Arkansas stops offering ‘X’ as an alternative to male and female on driver’s licenses and IDs
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas will no longer allow residents to use “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards, officials announced Tuesday, under new rules that will also make it harder for transgender people to change the gender shown on their driver’s license is listed and IDs.
The changes announced by the Ministry of Finance and Administration reverse a practice that has existed since 2010 and remove the “X” option used by non-binary and intersex residents. The agency has asked a legislative panel to approve an emergency rule outlining the new process.
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who last year signed an executive order banning gender-neutral terms from state documents, called the move “common sense.”
“As long as I am governor, Arkansas state government will not condone nonsense,” Sanders said in a news release.
The move is the latest among Republican states to legally define sex as binary, which critics say essentially erases the existence of transgender and nonbinary people and creates uncertainty for intersex people — those born with physical traits that aren’t fit the typical definitions of male or female.
“These proposed policies attempt to erase the existence of nonbinary and intersex Arkansans by denying them identity documents that reflect their true selves and forcing them into categories that do not represent their identities,” the American Civil Liberties said Union of Arkansas in a statement. .
At least 22 states and the District of Columbia allow “X” as an option on licenses and IDs. All previously issued Arkansas licenses and IDs marked “X” remain valid through their existing expiration dates, the department said. Arkansas has more than 2.6 million active driver’s licenses, and 342 of them have the “X” designation. The state has about 503,000 IDs, 174 of which have the “X” designation.
The changes would also make it more difficult for transgender people to change the gender listed on their driver’s license and ID by requiring an amended birth certificate to be submitted. Currently, a court order is required to change the gender listed on a birth certificate in the state.
Under the new rules, the gender listed on an Arkansas driver’s license or ID must match a person’s birth certificate, passport or Homeland Security document. Passports allow “X” as an option next to men and women. If a person’s passport lists “X” as a gender marker, the applicant must choose a man or a woman, said Scott Hardin, spokesman for Finance and Administration.
DFA Secretary Jim Hudson said in a statement that the previous practice was not supported by state law and had not gone through the public comment process and regulatory review required by law.
The policy comes after Arkansas has passed several measures in recent years targeting transgender rights, including a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which a federal judge has ruled unconstitutional. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments next month in the state’s appeal of that decision.