Oregon Adds ‘Third Gender’ Option to Driver’s Licenses

Authorities in Oregon have introduced a third option of “non-binary” to its driver’s licenses, becoming the first state to provide more than two genders on an official identification document.

Instead of identifying themselves as either male or female, residents who determine themselves to be “non-binary” will now have the option to choose the letter X to avoid revealing their biological gender.

Oregon’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services said it introduced the practice after a judge in Oregon ruled last year that veteran Jamie Shupe, who had been living as a woman, could be legally recognized as neither man nor woman but instead as “gender non-binary,” becoming the first person in the United States to do so.

Shupe told NBC News that he and his partner watched on live-stream as transportation officials took a vote on the matter, describing it as a “highly emotional” moment.

“It was highly emotional. Me and Sandy watched it on YouTube, the whole time the two of us tightly clinging to each other, and crying. I keep drying them, but the tears keep coming,” he said.

Last week, Washington, DC, became the first jurisdiction to offer a gender-neutral driver’s license, and lawmakers in California and New York are drawing up similar legislation.

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