Driver’s licenses have become a flashpoint for lawmakers in the General Assembly session, which has seen an extended debate about allowing undocumented immigrants to have Virginia driver's licenses.
But there’s another controversy surrounding licenses.
Right next to the picture of your face on your driver’s license is a line that says sex with an M or a F. But what about people who don’t identify as male or female?
Senator Scott Surovell has a bill that would allow non-binary drivers to put an X in that spot. “A lot of people don’t identify as either male or female, and I think it’s important that we recognize that in the law," Surrovell says. "And some people feel they should be able to express on a government document what they feel their sex is, and if you’re non-binary they want to be able to put down an X.”
But the whole idea of “gender X” is a farce, says Victoria Cobb at the Family Foundation. She says people are either male or female. “Biology is just not irrelevant. People’s anatomy matters. It matters in locker rooms. It matters in bathrooms, and it matters when police are patting you down for a security check.”
The bill has already passed a Senate panel with a bipartisan vote, two Republicans joined Democrats to support the bill.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
