Despite what liberals say, an ‘x’ marker on government identification is not a step forward for trans and nonbinary inclusion, it is a creation of a masterlist of trans and/or nonbinary people, it is just another chance to be mistreated and catalogued by a government that does not want us to exist. A true ‘step forward’ for trans and nonbinary inclusion would be the removal of gender markers from all government documentation.
People in the notes saying that there needs to be a gender marker on your ID in case of medical emergencies are 100% wrong. EMTs, Paramedics, and ER doctors do not rely on gender markers on IDs at all. Many patients don’t even have their ID with them when they have a medical emergency.
NEVER in all my time as an EMT did I encounter a situation where I needed to riffle through someone’s wallet and find out whether their ID said “M” “F” (or “X”) before I could treat them. If a patient was unconscious I usually got their name and medical history from whoever called 911, and left any remaining information blank. Regardless, the priority would be getting them to the hospital, at which point the hospital staff could usually access their medical records and fill in the rest of that information. Having a gender marker on your ID really isn’t going to change the care you get.
But you know who DOES look at ID? Cops. Cops who are already scrutinizing trans and gender non-conforming people, and who are already going out of their way to harass and brutalize us. Having a gender marker on IDs gives cops another means to question our gender, and cops actively use gender markers on IDs to harm trans/nb people, especially when the marker on their ID does not match their appearance or presentation. Adding an X marker will not fix that, it might even draw more scrutiny in some situations. Removing the gender marker would remove that added danger, and decrease the ability of the cops to harass our community.
