Gender marker

A **gender marker**, **gender designation**, or **sex marker** refers to the letter or word indicating a person's gender or sex. This is often used in the context of official documents, but may also be used in other contexts. Terms like "NB(i)",[*source?*] "GF",[*source?*] "GQ",[*source?*] "MtF", and "FtM" are examples of common non-legal or non-official gender marker usage. Gender markers are also commonly used in school-related contexts, such as on student identification cards, report cards, attendance sheets, online student portals, or other school records and documents.

## Official gender markers outside the binary

### Australia

Australia added the option to indicate an indeterminate, unspecified, intersex, nonbinary, or other identity (X) on passports in 2013. This option is only available to Australian citizens who can prove their identity via a gender recognition certificate issued by the RBDM, a revised RBDM birth certificate showing the person's gender, an RBDM recognized details certificate, an Identity Acknowledgment Certificate issued by the South Australian RBDM, or a statement from a registered medical practitioner or psychologist.

### Bangladesh

Bangladesh includes the options "other", "Hijra", and "*tritiyo linggo*" ("third gender") on some official documents, including passports.

### Canada

Canada offers an option to indicate an indeterminate, unspecified, intersex, nonbinary, or other identity (X).

### Germany

Germany has a gender marker option for diverse or intersex people (X). Germany also allows parents to leave their intersex child's gender marker blank, and intersex adults can remove their gender marker later in life if they wish. Germany's ID cards also omit gender.

### India

India has a gender marker option for eunuchs (E), and also offers a neutral gender marker (X).

### Netherlands

The Netherlands has a gender marker option to indicate an indeterminate, unspecified, intersex, nonbinary, or other identity (X), but also aims to abolish gender markers entirely.

### The United States

The United States includes gender markers on passports, birth certificates, driver's licenses, state and federal identification cards, and social security cards. The standard gender markers are female (F) and male (M). However, some states and territories offer another gender markers on some or all documents, indicating an unspecified, intersex, or nonbinary identity (X).

Laws regarding gender marker change overall vary by state and territory. It is possible for one's gender marker to be inconsistent between documents (such as having an X on one's passport, while having an M on one's driver's license), especially if one lives in a state or territory which restricts or bans access to gender affirming amendments to certain documents. Oklahoma, in particular, explicitly banned the use of "X" on state-issued birth certificates.

## Notes

1. ↑ RBDM stands for the Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Changing Your Gender Marker to Non-Binary. Gender Confirmation Center.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Selecting your Gender Marker. Travel.State.Gov.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 X Gender Marker Available on U.S. Passports Starting April 11. U.S. Department of State.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Migdon, Brooke (2022-05-31). Here are the states where you can (and cannot) change your gender designation on official documents. Changing America.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Identity Document Laws and Policies. Movement Advancement Project.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Davis, Heath Fogg (2017-05-31). Let’s delete sex-identity from birth certificates.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sex and gender diverse passport applicants. Australian Passport Office.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 From Recognition to Realising Rights: Legal Protection of Gender Identity in Bangladesh Law (Blast, 2019). Centre for Law & Policy Research.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Geschlechtseintrag Inter/Divers: Beschwerdebegründung beim BGH eingereicht (Gender entry Inter/Diverse: Grounds for appeal submitted to the Federal Court of Justice) (German). Dittre Option (2015-04-24).
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Germany paves way for 'third gender' option at birth. SBS News (2018-08-15).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "In der Personenstandssache geb. Antragstellerin und Beschwerdefuhrerin" (German) (2015-01-21).
12. ↑ MTF / M2F / Male to Female (English). The Trans Language Primer.
13. ↑ FTM / F2M / Female to Male (English). The Trans Language Primer.
14. ↑ Student Records and Privacy. Gender Inclusive Schools.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Bollinger, Alex (2020-07-12). Netherlands plans to remove gender from ID cards entirely. LGBTQ Nation.
16. ↑ Barr, Sabrina (2018-10-19). Netherlands issues gender neutral passport for first time in its history. Independent.