In a historic victory for the transgender community, Oregon judge Amy Holmes Hehn granted Jamie Shupe’s petition to be legally classified as non-binary.
Shupe, whose correct pronouns are they/them/their, filed the petition on April 27. Expecting to be challenged by the judge, the 57-year old former Army Sergeant was prepared with letters from two doctors confirming them as neither male nor female. However, the petition was granted quickly, with Judge Hehn giving only a two-paragraph decision. The judge told Lake Perriguey, the lawyer who represented Shupe, that they were “pushing the envelope” with their petition. Perriguey replied, “We’re not, really. The envelope just needs to get bigger.”
Though Oregon law has for years allowed people to petition to legally reclassify their gender, there are no specifications limiting the reclassification to the gender binary of male and female.
The granting of Shupe’s petition is especially significant given the widespread discrimination against transgender people throughout the United States. North Carolina’s HB2 has been at the center of the discussion, with the focus being mostly on transgender people using the correct bathroom, that which corresponds with their gender identity. Conservatives have worked to demonize transgender people using myths and misinformation, such as the myth that letting transgender people use the correct bathrooms and locker rooms is dangerous, a claim that experts have refuted.
Unfortunately, problems for the transgender community are not limited to North Carolina. Currently, only 20 states have civil rights laws banning discrimination against LGBT people, but in most states, LGBT people can be legally discriminated against in housing, employment, public accommodations, healthcare and education based solely on their sexuality and/or gender identity. Many other states are actively working to implement anti-LGBT legislation, with over 200 anti-LGBT bills being filed in only the first few months of 2016.
Jamie Shupe experienced discrimination throughout their entire life because of their gender identity. “I was denied the right as a child and while in the military to ever explore my gender identity because of the hostility of society for violating gender norms or for expressing any form of gender variance.” In 2014, Shupe decided to move to Portland, a city known to be friendly to the transgender community.
Though Shupe’s legal success has made them much happier, they still face problems. The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles told Shupe that it may take months – even years – for them to issue a driver’s license with a non-binary sex designation. “We have statutory and administrative rule changes, we have to change our computer systems and contact our external partners,” said DMV spokesperson David House.
While the legal recognition of a person as non-binary is a first in United States history, it is not seen the same way in other parts of the world. Many countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Denmark, India, Nepal, and New Zealand, offer more than just male or female as a legal sex. The treatment of LGBT people in the United States is so far behind other countries that in April, the UK Foreign Office issued a warning to the British LGBT community about discrimination in the United States.
Despite the disappointingly slow pace of progress for LGBT rights in the US, Shupe stays hopeful.
“This is the greatest victory of my life. I have won the right to legally and accurately define my sense of self and who I exist as. The judge has simply made me whole and corrected the injustices that were done to me by the medical and grossly inadequate government classification systems that I was forced to live under. Hopefully, I have freed all of those like me to exist not only authentically, but legally.”
