Budget provision expands gender options on state documents

The Massachusetts State House in Boston

The Massachusetts State House in Boston

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Staff Writer

Published: 08-22-2024 5:00 PM

Advocates of a new state law that adds a third gender option on vital records and other state documents are applauding changes that went into effect in July, saying that the new rules are vital for non-binary and gender-nonconforming individuals to be able to live successful lives.

“When you’re getting a job, you often have to fill out various forms and provide multiple forms of identification,” said Joan Erwin, CEO of Transhealth, a western Massachusetts organization that provides and advocates for gender-affirming care. “That can be, at the very least, embarrassing and marginalizing for people who have different genders listed on different documents.”

Although Massachusetts residents have had the ability to choose an alternative gender designation on their driver’s licenses, ID cards and other Registry of Motor Vehicle-related documents since 2019, the new provisions in the fiscal 2025 state budget enshrine those choices into state law, making it more difficult for a future administration opposed to the measure to undo it.

The provisions also expand the policy to other state documents, allowing parents to choose a non-binary option on their child’s birth certificate, for example, and allows adults to change the gender listed on their birth certificate and marriage licenses.

It also calls on the state to develop a plan to ensure that any state form or document issued by a state agency that asks for gender identification include an option other than male or female, and that state agencies that interact with youth and young adults develop materials to inform them of options regarding sex and gender designations on state forms, the latter having a deadline of completion by January 2025.

The provisions are based on parallel House and Senate bills filed by state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, and state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, known as “An Act relative to gender identity on Massachusetts identification.” Domb and Comerford were joined in introducing the legislation by Cambridge state Rep. Marjorie Decker.

In an interview, Comerford said she had taken up the mantle to allow a third gender option on state IDs and driver’s licenses from state Senate President Karen Spilka, who had sponsored such legislation before assuming the president’s role. But she credited the constituents of her district, which includes Northampton, Amherst and most of Franklin County, for pushing to expand the legislation beyond just IDs.

“It was the constituents who said, ‘Look, it’s not just driver’s licenses, it’s marriage certificates, it’s all state documents, we have to work in a much broader context,’” Comerford said. “It does feel like this is a people-powered win.”

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Erwin said she is grateful to Comerford for her advocacy for the bill and implementation of providing a third gender option, but that more work needed to be done to raise awareness about non-binary individuals.

“The public still wants to identify people by the binary,” Erwin said. “I don’t think it’s because of a lack of openness, but out of habit, since that’s what we’ve been taught. What we need is more education.”

Massachusetts can now count itself among more than two dozen states that already allow individuals to change the sex designation on their birth certificate without medical documentation or court order, with other states including California, Maine and Connecticut. The commonwealth is also now among 16 states that allow for an “X” gender designation on birth certificates.

The legislation that led to the third gender option had been sponsored by both Domb and Comerford since 2019. This year marked the fourth consecutive session that the Senate passed legislation allowing the third gender identification on state documents, which had not managed to clear the House of Representatives. The governor had included aspects of the bill into her original base budget, but Comerford said she and Domb had worked to ensure the full bill was included in the final measure.

“Massachusetts should have IDs as diverse as our people are, and we know that forcing people into an ‘M’ or ‘F’ box doesn’t work,” Comerford said. “This brings us one step closer to civil rights in Massachusetts for LGBTQ folks.”

In a statement, Domb acknowledged the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth for their insights that helped make this a better policy.

“The inclusion of this policy demonstrates our commonwealth’s commitment to acceptance and our recognition that gender identity is personal,” Domb said.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.