Oklahoma bans non-binary birth certificates in first-of-its-kind law

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt
Photo: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a bill this week that bans non-binary gender markers on birth certificates in the state, making Oklahoma the first state to explicitly ban such birth certificates.

“People are free to believe whatever they want about their identity, but science has determined people are either biologically male or female at birth,” state Rep. Sheila Dills (R), the House sponsor of the bill, incorrectly stated. “We want clarity and truth on official state documents. Information should be based on established medical fact and not an ever-changing social dialogue.”

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“I find it a very extreme and grotesque use of power in this body to write this law and try to pass it — when literally none of them live like us,” said state Rep. Mauree Turner (D), who is non-binary, when the bill was being debated.

The issue came to Stitt’s attention last year when the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) issued a birth certificate with a non-binary gender marker to…

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