Washington Will Legally Recognize a Third Gender Beginning This Month

Beginning January 27th, 2018, the people of Washington can identify as male, female, or gender X on official documents.

The Washington State Department of Health has defined 'X' as "a gender that is not exclusively male or female, including, but not limited to, intersex, agender, amalgagender, androgynous, bigender, demigender, female-to-male, genderfluid, genderqueer, male-to-female, neutrois, nonbinary, pangender, third sex, transgender, transsexual, Two Spirit, and unspecified.'

Adults who wish to change their gender on their birth certificates will no longer require a doctor's letter. Washingtonians under the age of 18 can change their gender on legal documents with the consent of their guardian and doctor. The law doesn't apply to people acquiring official documents for the first time. 

California and Oregon are enacting similar gender policies late this year, but Washington is officially the first to make it law.

A recent poll from GLAAD reports that about 12% of people under the age of 34 don't identify as a cisgender man or woman. Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, said: “With LGBTQ people and especially trans and non-binary Americans under attack daily by the Trump Administration, as evidenced by Trump’s efforts to block trans Americans from serving in the military and rescinding of Title IX protections for trans students, designation ‘X’ is a powerful and reaffirming sign that our identities cannot and will not be erased.”

According to CNN, "LGBTQ advocates say that allowing people to update their gender markers can reduce the risk of harassment and discrimination they experience when their physical appearance does not match the gender on their identification."