If you are a citizen in New York City, you can now legally identify as gender non-binary on your birth certificate.
The new law came into effect on 1 January and now gives the option for millions of people to tick a box marked ‘X’, which signifies that they don’t identify as either male or female.
Parents can now choose the ‘X’ identifier for the their newborn children, and adults can also register themselves using the new option.
The reform was signed into effect by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio back in October.
“The transgender and gender non-binary New Yorkers will no longer need a letter from a physician or an affidavit signed by a licensed health care provider to change their gender on their birth certificate,” the New York Health Department said in a statement.
This new gender option was approved by the New York City Council and Board of Health following a campaign by InterACT – an organisation that supports intersex people.
Intersex people are born with both male and female biological characteristics which can be identified at birth, or may develop later in the life.
An intersex person may have variations in their chromosomes, sex hormones levels, in genital formation or other differentiations from average sexual development.
The change of law in New York follows similar reforms in other US states including California, Washington State, and Oregon.
Currently, the UK only legally recognises two genders on documents.
However, the Ministry of Justice announced last summer that it would begin consulting on introducing a third option.
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