Third-gender option on IDs to be introduced in California

State Sen. Toni Atkins' bill would add a non-binary gender marker option for driver's licenses, birth certificates, identity cards and gender change court orders. The San Diego Democrat says SB 179 would also simplify the process for changing one's gender on those documents.

Transgender people face discrimination in their everyday lives when they use IDs that do not match the gender they appear to be, Atkins said. The legislation would help transgender people and those who do not identify as either male or female to obtain official documents that match their gender identity, she said.

SB 179 would end the requirements that a person get a doctor's sworn statement and appear in court even if no objections have been filed when petitioning to change their gender on official documents. The bill would also allow minors to apply for a gender change on their birth certificate.

The California Family Council, a conservative Christian group, opposes adding gender options beyond male and female to state documents, the group's CEO Jonathan Keller said.

"We believe government documents need to reflect biological facts for identification and medical purposes," Keller said in a statement on SB 179. "Laws like this will simply erase any meaningful gender definitions, if being male or female is completely divorced from biological facts."

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