The American Civil Liberties Union is advocating for an executive order that would update federal identification documents with gender neutral marker ‘X’, and give people the right to self-determine their gender identity in the United States.

Federal identification that accurately reflects a person’s gender identity could reduce the risk of harrassment and harm faced by trans, nonbinary and intersex people when they travel, apply for jobs, and enter public spaces.

“Federal identification documents that display an inaccurate gender marker are a key systemic barrier and source of discrimination — a problem that is widespread throughout several agencies and requires a whole-of-government approach,” ACLU wrote in an email sent yesterday to President Joe Biden.

If passed, the suggested order would recognize that there are more than two genders on a federal level, and remove barriers such as needing medical certificates for one’s ID to accurately reflect their gender.

“Requiring trans folks to jump through hoops with doctor’s visits and medical letters to obtain updated IDs is costly, complicated, an invasion of privacy, and entirely unnecessary — and prevents many people from getting an updated ID to move through the world,” according to a statement by ACLU.

Nearly 20 states have self-attestation and gender marker X options on their driver licenses and IDs, and an update on the federal level would create consistency across state and federal documents.

Learn how access to accurate IDs impacts trans, intersex and nonbinary folks through these firsthand narratives: https://www.aclu.org/news/topic/they-the-people-accurate-gender-markers-for-all/