After settling a lawsuit, Oklahoma state officials agreed to include a nonbinary gender option on birth certificates.
The change will allow nonbinary people born in Oklahoma to change their gender designation on re-issued birth certificates.
Oklahoma added the option after settling Kit Vivien Loreleid v. Oklahoma State Department of Health, a lawsuit with a nonbinary, Oklahoma-born Oregon resident, who had sought the change themself, according to reporting by nonprofit news outlet NonDoc.
Lorelied was issued an updated birth certificate with the new designation on Oct 7.
On Thursday, top elected Republicans, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, began issuing statements decrying the change. Stitt’s statement, among other things, argued that there are only two genders. Others, including top legislative Republicans, said the process through which the change came to be was improper and should have gotten legislative approval.
Many vowed to reverse the change. On Wednesday, Sen. Michael Bergstrom (R-Adair) filed SB1100, which would require male and female to be the only options available on birth certificates.
In the meantime, Oklahoma joins 14 other states and the District of Columbia that provide a nonbinary designation on reissued birth certificates.
In November 2020, Oklahoma voters elected Mauree Turner, the first openly nonbinary state legislator in the U.S.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
“I believe that people are created by God to be male or female. Period. There is no such thing as nonbinary sex and I wholeheartedly condemn the purported OSDH court settlement that was entered into by rogue activists who acted without receiving proper approval or oversight. I will be taking whatever action necessary to protect Oklahoma values and our way of life.” - Governor Kevin Stitt
"This morning, the Governor used his pulpit to attack Oklahomans. Period. A national study estimated that 52 percent of transgender and non-binary young people in the United States seriously contemplated suicide last year. The Governor’s suggestion that non-binary people don’t qualify as Oklahomans is abhorrent and completely unbecoming of a governor. Moreover, it is dangerous. We are elected to help people not make their lives harder." - House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman
"A legal settlement regarding birth certificate designations was reached in May by the prior attorney general’s office. The Oklahoma State Department of Health will work with the Governor and Attorney General’s office for input and counsel on next steps. Our responsibility is to maintain vital statistics, and we will continue to do so in accordance with the laws of Oklahoma. Should a challenge to the previous agreement be made, we will proceed accordingly." - Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye
"Unelected employees in the executive branch of government have no authority to make decisions of this magnitude. The vast majority of elected House members expect the governor, as the elected leader of the executive branch, to immediately take executive action to follow through on his pledge to undo this. This executive branch agency acted outside its scope of authority, and now the governor, as the leader of that branch of government, must correct it immediately through executive order." - House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka
“The authority to institute policy changes of this magnitude rightly belongs within the legislative branch, the branch of government closest to the people. Executive branch agencies should not attempt to legislate or make substantive policy changes like this through rulemaking or court settlement. This is an egregious example of executive overreach that should be corrected as soon as possible.” - Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City
"Since the legally required review never occurred in this case, the executive branch should not accept the settlement until it does. A settlement like this cannot be made solely by unelected executive branch agency employees because of the clearly substantial impact on the agency." - House Speaker Pro Tempore Terry O'Donnell, R-Catoosa
"As a non-binary Oklahoma[n] (sic) who has to sit in rooms with these folks who quite literally pretend that I don't exist - I don't expect anything less from them. I don't expect a creativity in the way they attack us because I've seen their lack of creativity when it comes to caring for their own. They don't know what it means to reimagine something beautiful where everybody thrives. It's saddening to see a few men pour this, deeply misguided and very dangerous rhetoric, into an entire state.' - Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City
"It's not up for debate. Non-binary and gender diverse people have always been here. We deserve the same rights to access government documents that accurately reflect who we are, if we so choose, including birth certificates." - Freedom Oklahoma
