California has become the first state to allow another gender designation on birth certificates: non-binary.
Governor Jerry Brown's signed the bill that will take effect next year, The Sacramento Bee reported.
SB 179 also allows adults to use a gender marker other than "F" or "M" on their driver's license. California is now only the second state to allow gender-neutral licenses. Oregon is the only other state to allow it, while Washington, D.C. has permitted non-gender specific licenses, WRC reported.
Non-binary will be listed on drivers licenses starting in 2019, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Non-binary is an "umbrella term for people with gender identities that fall somewhere outside of the traditional conceptions of strictly either female or male," and includes people who are transgender or born with intersex traits, The Bee reported.
Five people in the country have decided so far to use the designation non-binary as their legal gender. But according to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 31 percent of the more than 27,000 people who took part identified themselves as non-binary.
The new law will make it easier for changes to official documents. Currently, anyone who wants to change their gender on their identification has to have a medical certification, but now that rule will be abolished, The Times reported.
About the Author
