New Yorkers now have the opportunity to affirm their gender identity on city-issued identification cards.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that all IDNYC cards will now have a third option for gender that will be denoted as “X.” New applicants can make the designation for their card, and current cardholders can request the change at no additional charge, according to the mayor.
"We are sending a clear message that all New Yorkers, of all gender identities and expressions, belong and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect," he said in a statement.
New Yorkers who wish not to identify their gender on the card, will still have the option of doing so. The change comes weeks after the city allowed transgender and nonbinary New Yorkers the right to amend their birth certificates with a gender designation "X."
IDNYC begins its fifth year of operation and serves as an official government issued ID card for any New York City resident 10-years-old and up. The mayor’s office said there are more than 1.25 million cardholders.
In addition to being an official form of identification, the card provides memberships, benefits and discounts to various art and cultural institutions and other organizations in the city. This year, several new institutions joined the list of locations that will offer benefits.
IDNYC cardholders will have a one-year free membership to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in NoLIta, will be able to use the card to set up an account at People’s United Bank, and get 25 percent off a rock climbing class at Brooklyn Boulders’ Queens location.
