Oklahoma GOP Governor Sign Nation’s First Law Banning Non-Binary Birth Certificates

Oklahoma is the first state to write a nonbinary prohibition into law that will ensure “clarity and truth” on official birth documents, according to AP News. 

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the bill into law on Tuesday that explicitly says birth certificates will have only male or female gender assignments. The new law comes after an executive order from the governor restricted the Oklahoma State Health Department from adding a nonbinary option. 

“People are free to believe whatever they want about their identity, but science has determined people are either biologically male or female at birth,” said Oklahoma Rep. Sheila Dills, the bill’s House sponsor, in a statement after the bill passed the House last week.

 “We want clarity and truth on official state documents. Information should be based on established medical fact and not an ever-changing social dialogue,” she added.  

Meanwhile, Oklahoma elected the first nonbinary state legislator in the country, Democrat Mauree Turner, in 2020. Turner tweeted this as the bill was being debated last week: 

“I find it a very extreme and grotesque use of power in this body to write this law and try to pass it — when literally none of them live like us.” 

The news comes one month after Gov. Stitt signed a bill prohibiting biological males from competing in girls’ sports. 

It’s worth noting the Biden administration recently announced making an “X” gender on US passports. 

According to the think tank Movement Advancement Project, sixteen states and the District of Columbia have already allowed gender marker designation besides male or female.