U.S.

New Jersey Adds Gender-Neutral Option To Birth Certificates

New Jersey residents can now identify as gender-neutral on their birth certificates.

New Jersey Adds Gender-Neutral Option To Birth Certificates
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New Jersey residents can now identify as gender-neutral on their birth certificates.

The law allowing the new option went into effect on Friday. According to the legislation, New Jersey birth certificates will now have three gender choices — female, male or undesignated/non-binary.

The law was named after Barbra "Babs" Siperstein, the first openly transgender person to serve on the Democratic National Committee.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed the legislation last summer, saying it was "an important step forward that will allow transgender individuals to control the disclosure of their transgender status."

Several other states, including Oregon, California and Washington, have also added a third gender option on birth certificates. And New York City just recently introduced a non-binary "X" choice for its birth certificates.