As reported in The Daily Beast, New York City will soon allow non-binary people to amend birth certificates to a gender neutral “X.”
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced the landmark proposal, Introduction 954-A, back on June 4th in honor of pride month. It was cleared by the City Council this Wednesday and snow heads back to De Blasio for a formal signature.

The bill permits an X option for all those who identify as neither male nor female. It also allows transgender New Yorkers to change their gender markers without needing top provide a medical affidavit.

Speaker Johnson said that the legislation “will make New York birth certificates more inclusive for all and will send a powerful signal to the world that New York City government works for everyone.”

As Toby Adams, Executive Director of the Intersex and Genderqueer Recognition Project, which spearheaded California’s SB-179, which allows non-binary Californians to choose an X gender marker rather than an M or F, stated in the article, “‘Even before Speaker Johnson’s bill, several intersex people whose gender is non-binary have been able to obtain birth certificates in New York City listing ‘intersex.’”

Adams is referring to intersex activist Sara Kelly Keenan, the first non-binary Californian and first person to receive an intersex birth certificate in the United States, our Founding E.D. Hida Viloria, who received the second intersex birth certificate from NYC, and others who have remained anonymous. You can hear more about how the intersex birth certificates came about in our podcast interview of Keenan for Intersex Awareness Day 2017.

We applaud Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Johnson, and the New York City Council for not only acknowledging its intersex and non-binary citizens but working to ensure that we are accurately included!