Non-binary gender option for MA DL

[crfriend]

I recently had to collect a parcel [...] Then, after a brief look of confusion, she gathered her wits and said "Oh! ...Is this you?".  I said it was; at that she seemed satisfied that she had done an adequate check, so she let me have the parcel.

The address on the ID, if it matched the delivery address of the parcel, should have been good enough in that case. In any event, a quick retort of, "Yes, that's me, I'm just done up a bit differently at the moment." should have been enough to defuse the situation.

In the case of mistaken identity in the USA, it's entirely possible to get shot dead by the coppers. I don't think the two situations can really be readily confused.

[pelmut]

...a quick retort of, "Yes, that's me, I'm just done up a bit differently at the moment." should have been enough to defuse the situation.

A friend of mine who was part-way through transition had to show her passport to a customs official at a border.  The picture was still her old male one, so she said "I've changed a bit since that was taken".  The official murmured "...and for the better, I think".

[Dust]

In the case of mistaken identity in the USA, it's entirely possible to get shot dead by the coppers. I don't think the two situations can really be readily confused.

I think the risk of being shot by American cops is entirely overstated. Generally it would be for acting interpreted as aggressive (attacking the officer) or reaching for what might be a weapon. I've never heard of it happening for mistaken identity. Could you be arrested for using "someone else's" ID? Probably. But unless you attack the cop over it, you won't get shot.

[Dust]

I heard some discussion of this new option on the driver's license (different state, same thing), and someone theorized that a significant number of people getting the "X" designation on their license were doing it out of a libertarian desire to not give the government any more info than they have to, not because they were gender non-conforming. It's the same "how does my sex/gender have anything to do with my driving?" mentality.*

The thing is, a driver's license is primarily an ID card today. Take a look at the "Real ID" thing getting rolled out in the US right now. Sex is a biological reality, and an important piece of information for identification. Gender, as it is currently used, should be of no particular interest to the government.


*Interestingly, some guy got his legal records changed a while back to say female, simply because women get lower car insurance rates than men. I assume that's based on the crash statistics, but still...

[moonshadow]

I heard some discussion of this new option on the driver's license (different state, same thing), and someone theorized that a significant number of people getting the "X" designation on their license were doing it out of a libertarian desire to not give the government any more info than they have to....

Ahh the good old days of the libertarian party.... back when it was the people distrusting the government.

[Sinned]

It is possible to alter the sex designation on a birth certificate. I have a birth certificate of one of MOH's female relatives and she was classified as male initially and this was changed to female and a not added in the end margin to say that the sex was changed after certification by a doctor. I knew her brifly before she died. She lived as a woman, she never married and it's probable that she was intersex.

[Dust]

I heard some discussion of this new option on the driver's license (different state, same thing), and someone theorized that a significant number of people getting the "X" designation on their license were doing it out of a libertarian desire to not give the government any more info than they have to....

Ahh the good old days of the libertarian party.... back when it was the people distrusting the government.

I briefly thought of myself as libertarian, until I realized they were mostly about drugs instead of small government.

[moonshadow]

I heard some discussion of this new option on the driver's license (different state, same thing), and someone theorized that a significant number of people getting the "X" designation on their license were doing it out of a libertarian desire to not give the government any more info than they have to....

Ahh the good old days of the libertarian party.... back when it was the people distrusting the government.

I briefly thought of myself as libertarian, until I realized they were mostly about drugs instead of small government.

I'm not sure what they stand for these days. All everyone is talking about are the shenanigans between the president and the Congress. I know very few people anymore that aren't hard right, or hard left...

Moderates seem to be a dying breed.

You are correct on the other thread Dust, I'm sure the two of us could shoot many-a-bull over some cold ones. Perhaps someday...