Maine Adds 'Nonbinary' Option to Birth Certificates

Non-binary adults in Maine will now more easily be able to change their birth certificates to reflect that gender status. The state has adopted a third, "X" option for gender on birth certificates, reports News Center Maine.

The article noted that this is the most recent in a series of policy adjustments that make space for non-binary people:

"Mainers have been able to obtain an X gender designation on driver's licenses and state IDs since 2018, and to change their gender marker on driver's license and state IDs without a signature from a medical provider since 2019."

The option is available for people under the age of 18, though only with the consent of both parents, the article said.

LGBTQ advocacy group GLAD had lent its support to the legislative process that led to the change. The group released a statement on the new policy in which it took note of the fact that intersex people could also make use of the new non-binary option.

GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary Bonauto stated in the release that:

"Birth records are a critically important means for personal identification. The change to a simpler administrative process for amending gender markers and the inclusion of an X marker to recognize a range of gender identities are both in line with the approach taken in a growing number of states, as well as other Maine agencies including the Bureau of Motor Vehicles."

Bonauto went on to note that "diverse gender identities and expressions are normal and positive variations of human experience."