N.C. Updates Gender Change Process for Licenses

N.C. Updates Gender Change Process for Licenses

By Mega Pixel

photo credit: Mega Pixel // Shutterstock

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles is issuing a new application form making it easier for some transgender people to list their gender on their driver’s licenses and identification cards.

The new “sex designation” form will replace the requirement for a surgeon’s letter when changing the gender marker on the cards. The release says while it still requires authorization from medical providers, including a section where a licensed health care or social services worker can attest to the applicant’s gender identity.

According to the News and Observer, the DMV has dropped the surgery requirement and allows a broader range of licensed health care providers to confirm a person’s gender identity, including physicians, psychiatrists, physician’s assistants, therapists, counselors, psychologists or case or social workers.

The new form still calls for “male” or “female,” which doesn’t acknowledge people who identify as neither, but LGBTQ advocates call the new form a step in the right direction. North Carolina becomes the 22nd state to adopt these new guidelines.

“We still have a long way to go before LGBTQ North Carolinians are seen as equal citizens in the eyes of the law, but this is one step in that direction,” Kendra Johnson, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. “People of all genders shouldn’t have to face invasive questioning and surgical requirements just to have their government identification reflect their true identity. Trans men are men and trans women are women — period.”

Written by Clarke Jones

Source: News and Observer

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