Arkansas stops offering ‘X’ as an alternative to male and female on driver’s licenses and IDs

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas is no longer allowing residents to use “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards. The Department of Finance and Administration on Tuesday announced the changes that reverse a practice that’s been in place since 2010. The move also will make it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their licenses and IDs by requiring an amended birth certificate. The department is asking a legislative panel to approve an emergency rule spelling out the new process. The move is the latest among Republican states to legally define sex as binary.