PA to offer gender-neutral driver’s licenses — NJ says it will too
Pennsylvania has announced it will begin offering gender-neutral driver's licenses and IDs as soon as next year. New Jersey might not be too far behind, the Motor Vehicle Commission told New Jersey 101.5 Thursday.
“NJMVC is committed to offering an ‘X’ option on New Jersey driver licenses, consistent with current law regarding birth certificates. This requires significant software changes, which will be addressed following the implementation of 'REAL ID,' which is the MVC’s current top priority,” NJMVC Chair and Chief Administrator Sue Fulton said in a written message to the statement.
There are 13 states — plus Washington, DC — that offer the gender-neutral driver's licenses, according to the Movement Advancement Project or MAP, an LGBTQ policy tracker.
DC was first in the nation to allow individuals to denote gender as "M", "F" or "X" on licenses or ID cards, starting in 2017.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesperson Erin Waters-Trasatt said her agency had begun "early stages of implementing" a third gender marker on state-issued IDs in response to national trends and state requests, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
New Jersey has been offering the option of gender-neutral birth certificates since this past winter.
State law that went into effect on Feb. 1 simplified the process for New Jerseyans to change the gender marker on their birth certificates, while also offering a third gender option, “X” for non-binary and undesignated individuals.
Non-binary is a term used by people who do not identify as specifically male or female. That may include intersex individuals, whose anatomy doesn't confirm to tradition definitions of male and female.
Six other states, as well as New York City, also allow gender-neutral birth certificates, according to the MAP website.
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