Arkansas has removed the option for residents to list their gender as “X” on official documents such as driver’s licenses and IDs, the state has announced.
In a statement about the move, Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared that the “Arkansas state government will not endorse nonsense.”
Residents will now only be permitted to list their gender as either male or female and only use their biological sex, not their chosen “identity.”
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said it would rescind rules that allow license holders to change their gender “without any verifiable information.”
The department also confirmed that they will be prohibited from using “X” in lieu of gender.
Those rules were put in place in 2010 to allow “transgender,” “non-binary,” or “intersex” residents to change the sex listed on their licenses and IDs.
“This policy is just common sense,” said Gov. Sanders.
“Only women give birth, men shouldn’t play women’s sports, and there are only two genders,” she correctly noted.
“As long as I’m Governor, Arkansas state government will not endorse nonsense.”
The rule change must be approved by a legislative committee of the Arkansas General Assembly.
The Republican majority in the state is expected to pass the measure, however.
The department noted that, once the policy moves forward, all previously issued licenses and IDs with the “X” designation will remain valid through the existing expiration date.
Residents will have to update their gender when they renew their license or ID.
The move is the latest effort by a Republican state to legally define sex as binary.
However, critics argue that using scientific facts to determine gender is discriminatory toward people who claim to be “transgender” and “non-binary.”
They also insist that creates uncertainty for intersex people.
Intersex people are those born with sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or an internal reproductive system that is not considered typical for a male or female.
However, the condition is extremely rare.
“Intersex conditions” are estimated to only occur in 0.018% of the population.
The argument for intersex people is often wrongly used to back up the far-left ideological assertion that “sex is a spectrum,” or that biological sex is not dimorphic.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas blasted the move in a statement.
“This proposed policy seeks to erase the existence of non-binary and intersex Arkansans by denying them identity documents that reflect their true selves, forcing them into categories that do not represent their identities,” the group claimed.
At least 22 states and the District of Columbia allow “X” as an option on licenses and IDs.
Arkansas has more than 2.6 million active driver’s licenses, and 342 of them have the “X” designation.
The state has about 503,000 IDs and 174 have the “X” designation.
DFA Secretary Jim Hudson said the discontinued policy was not supported by state law and had not gone through the public comment process and legislative review required by state law.
In a statement, Hudson said:
“This change announced today reflects a commonsense approach that ensures a license or ID issued by the State of Arkansas is based on objective, verifiable information.
“All of our stakeholders in law enforcement, other government agencies, caregivers, schools, and businesses depend on DFA-issued licenses and IDs to keep our communities safe and to prevent fraud.”
