- Arkansas is planning to remove the choice ‘X’ symbol for gender on driver’s licenses.
- The solution is meant for those who identify as trans, non-binary, and transgender.
- Because “there are only two genders,” Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders supports the decision.
By Martha Williams For Dailymail.com
Arkansas has dropped the gender ‘X’ option from driver’s licenses used for transgender, non-binary, and transgender people because the governor says ‘there are only two genders.’
Additionally, it is against the law for people to change the gender on their licenses without providing “verifiable information.”
The decision was made on Tuesday by Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration leaders.
The state’s Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 41, defended the choice, saying she does not accept the ‘nonsense’.
“This policy is simply common sense. Only women give birth, people really don’t enjoy women’s sports, and there are only two genders,” Sanders said.
“As long as I’m Governor, Arkansas state agencies will not accept nonsense,” she said.
Of the 3,172,175 active driver’s licenses and IDs in Arkansas- 516 of those (0.1 percent) used the ‘X’ option to describe the identification holder’s gender.
Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson said that the shift reflects a ‘common-sense approach,’ adding that licenses and IDs will remain based on ‘objective, verifiable information.’
A legislative committee of the Arkansas General Assembly must still approve the rule change.
All of the people who are currently using the “X” on their IDs will need new cards when their licenses expire, but they will remain valid until the expiration date.
The most recent attempt by Republican lawmakers to legislate sex as binary is the rule change.
Critics have criticized the decision, saying that dividing gender into two categories is “discriminatory” to the transgender community.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas stated in a statement that “This proposed policy seeks to erase the existence of non-binary and intersex Arkansans by denying them identity documents that reflect their true selves and placing them in categories that do not represent their identities.”
Until the ban is approved, Arkansas is one of 22 states that allows residents to use the ‘M,’ ‘F,’ or ‘X’ option for the sex description.
The option became available in 2010 to allow transgender, nonbinary, or intersex residents to reflect their gender classification.
Sanders has made controversial choices for the transgender community before, and this is not her first.
In February 2023, supported a bill to ban drag shows in order to ‘protect kids.’ The proposed bill would redefine drag shows as ‘adult-oriented performances.’
Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the bill was not aimed at ‘banning anything,’ but rather about ‘protecting kids’ from ‘sexually explicit drag shows.’
Sanders’ own campaign attacked the partnership in response to Bud Light’s disastrous ad featuring transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.
‘Real women don’t have to fake it,’ she wrote on Twitter in a caption accompanying a video featuring the GOP’s female governors.
‘Real women. Doing real things,’ the ad continues, featuring a picture of Sanders’ face on a beer can resembling Bud Light.
Sanders served as the White House press secretary between 2017 and 2019 and is touted as a potential Republican presidential candidate for the future.
Her father, the former governor of Arkansas, is notable.
