Maine Will Issue ‘Nonbinary’ Gender Driver’s Licenses
Ian-Meredythe Dehne Lindsey, who’s request for non-binary gender marker prompted the BMV’s change in policy. Photo by Willis Ryder Arnold for Maine Public
As national pride month picks up steam, members of Maine’s LGBTQ community are celebrating a fresh victory. The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles will no longer require people getting IDs and driver’s licenses to select only male or female to indicate their gender.
The change comes after a yearlong mediation process between the Maine Human Rights Commission and the department.
Last June, Ian-Meredythe Dehne Lindsey filled out a gender designation form, went to the BMV and was told that the current computer system could not accommodate a “nonbinary” gender designation.
“It was frustrating just because other states do have that accommodation. So it’s a little frustrating to know that the state that I live in and love at the time didn’t have that accommodation,” Lindsey says.
Lindsey reached out to the Maine Human Rights Commission which soon began talks with the state.