Maryland Democrats want ‘Gender X’ birth certificates
Lawmakers in another blue state are pushing for Gender X birth certificates.
Maryland Democrats are backing the Birth Certificate Modernization Act to add the non-binary “X” option on birth…
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Lawmakers in another blue state are pushing for Gender X birth certificates.
Maryland Democrats are backing the Birth Certificate Modernization Act to add the non-binary “X” option on birth certificates for those who identify as something other than male or female. The measure also keep birth certificate amendment histories private.
“This bill will ensure that people can obtain documentation that matches who they are,” state Sen. Clarence Lam, D-Columbia, told Maryland Matters.
Maryland Family Institute president Jeffrey Trimbath criticized the proposal, calling it the “definition of tone deaf.”
“Maryland citizens are facing increased energy costs, rising prices, schools that aren’t educating our kids, a state government that is clearly spending more than it takes in, and in response to all of those everyday concerns, the authors of this bill are focused on eliminating the definition of sex,” Trimbath said.
The Maryland proposal comes as President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating the federal government recognizes the existence of two genders, male and female. Trump’s executive order also means the government will stop issuing Gender X passports to Americans who identify as non-binary.
“Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong,” the order reads.
“Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being.”
Lam said the Trump administration’s recognition of two genders makes the birth certificate bill he filed vital.
“All we can do at the state level is to further uplift and support the rights and priorities of our LGBTQ community, to ensure that we continue to take steps to move forward, even if the federal government decides to take steps backward,” he said.
Maryland lawmakers filed a similar bill last session, but it never came up for a vote.
States that currently allow the Gender X marker on birth certificates include: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Maryland already recognizes non-binary gender identity in its public schools. A Maryland school district saw a 582% increase in the number of students identifying as non-binary from 2020 to 2022, ABC 7 reported.