Washington Takes Next Step to Acknowledge More Than Two Genders on ID Cards

WASHINGTON - The latest step in the state’s efforts for inclusion rights is that residents will be able to choose from three gender options when getting a driver’s license: Male, Female and X.

The X gender designation option means a gender that is not exclusively male or female. The Department of Licensing proposed the rule change earlier this year. The change would also impact instruction permits or ID cards and would create more consistency with Washington birth certificates that can now list an X.

When Teresa Berntsen was named director of the Washington State Department of Licensing a year ago, people asked her about the issue. She heard from people who were frustrated that the agency didn’t offer a nonbinary option. People who visited DOL with birth certificates that listed their gender as X had to be turned away.