Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles is working to ease the process of changing gender markers on driver's licenses.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada said having an ID card that inaccurately represents somebody's gender can lead to discrimination and harassment targeting transgender and gender non-conforming people.
"You need identification in order to enter a secure building or to use a credit card or to interact with law enforcement. And that can be a very embarrassing process for a person," Holly Welborn from Nevada ACLU said.
Nevada's policies currently say that if somebody wants to change their gender identification on their driver's license, they need to get a doctor's signature. The proposed policy says a doctor's note would no longer be needed.
The ACLU said the current policy may hinder some from affirming their gender on documents. That's because not everyone wants or needs medical treatment in regards to their gender identity.
Kevin Malone from the DMV said the new process will only provide male or female options. But the department is working with local gender advocates to expand the identities that can be listed.
"The department is moving toward a gender 'x' for people who don't identify as either male or female," Malone said. "But that becomes a computer programming issue. We have limited resources so we really can't give you a timeline of when that's going to move forward. But we will move forward with it."
The policy now needs final approval from a state legislative committee in order to take effect.
