Biden Administration to Consider Adding 3rd Gender Identification Marker on Federal IDs
The White House Gender Policy Council Executive Director Jennifer Klein says the Biden administration is planning “to look into” the possibility of adding a third gender option to federal identification documents.
According to Faithwire, Klein told a reporter this week that she wasn’t sure if President Joe Biden could approve an executive order to add the third choice.
“I haven’t looked yet to see whether that requires an executive order,” she said. “I mean, I would note that we are very inclusive in our definition of ‘gender’ and we intend to address all sorts of discrimination and fight for equal rights for people, whether that’s LGBTQ+ people, women, girls, uh, men. So that’s certainly something we will look at. But I honestly don’t know whether that requires an executive order.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also added that the administration would “have to look into it a little more.”
In February, a spokesman for Biden said Biden was “committed to advancing state and federal efforts that allow transgender and non-binary Americans to update their identification documents to accurately reflect their gender identity.”
Some states and places, such as Washington, D.C., already have laws that allow people to choose “X” as their sex designation on certain identifying documents.
Federal regulations allow only the choice of male or female, but people can apply to change their gender identification.
“We want to make sure that there’s a consistent, streamlined and practical modernization in gender markers,” ACLU campaign strategist Arli Christian said.
The White House Gender Policy Council was launched Monday on International Women’s Day. The council will work on increasing transgender rights and offering support and encouragement from women of color.
“There will be a focus on women and girls, but the choice of the name of the council is really intentional,” a White House official said earlier this week.
Related:
President Biden Signs Executive Order Creating White House Gender Policy Council
Photo courtesy: Markus Spiske/Unsplash
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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