Arkansas DROPS gender 'x' marker from driver's licenses intended for transgender, non-binary and intersex people after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she 'There are only two genders... I will not endorse nonsense'

Arkansas has dropped the gender 'x' option from driver's licenses used for transgender, non-binary and intersex people because the state's governor says 'there are only two genders.'

The state has also banned residents from changing the gender on their licenses without 'verifiable information'.  

Officials from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration announced the decision on Tuesday.

The state's Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 41, defended the decision - saying she will not 'endorse' the 'nonsense'. 

'This policy is just common sense. Only women give birth, men shouldn't play women's sports, and there are only two genders,' Sanders said.

Arkansas has dropped the gender 'x' option from driver's licenses used for transgender, non-binary and intersex people

An example of a driver's license with an X sex marker from Washington State, which will continue to offer the designation to transgender, non-binary and intersex residents 

The state's Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 41, defended the decision - saying she will not 'endorse' the 'nonsense'

'As long as I'm Governor, Arkansas state government will not endorse nonsense,' she said.

Of the 3,172,175 active driver's licenses and IDs in Arkansas - 516 of those (0.1 per cent) used the 'x' option to describe the identification holder's gender. 

Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson said that the change reflects a 'commonsense approach,' adding that licenses and IDs should be based on 'objective, verifiable information.'

The rule change still has to be approved by a legislative committee of the Arkansas General Assembly.

All of the residents currently using the 'X' on their IDs will have to get new cards when their licenses expire, but the licenses will stay valid through the expiration date.

The rule change is the latest effort from Republican lawmakers to legally establish sex as binary.

Critics have fired back at the decision - saying that categorizing gender into two categories is 'discriminatory' to the transgender community.

'This proposed policy seeks to erase the existence of non-binary and intersex Arkansans by denying them identity documents that reflect their true selves, forcing them into categories that do not represent their identities,' the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas said in a statement. 

Until the ban is approved, Arkansas is one of 22 states that allows residents to use the 'M,' 'F' or 'X' option for the sex description. 

The option became available in 2010 to allow transgender, nonbinary or intersex residents to reflect their gender classification.

This is not the first time Sanders has made unpopular decisions for the transgender community.

'This policy is just common sense. Only women give birth, men shouldn't play women's sports, and there are only two genders,' Sanders said

This is not the first time Sanders has made unpopular decisions for the transgender community. Sanders responded to Bud Light's disastrous ad with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney with her own campaign blasting the partnership

In February, 2023, supported a bill to ban drag shows in order to 'protect kids.' The proposed bill would re-define drag shows as 'adult-oriented performances.'

Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the bill was not aimed at 'banning anything,' but rather about 'protecting kids' from 'sexually explicit drag shows.' 

Sanders responded to Bud Light's disastrous ad with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney with her own campaign blasting the partnership.

'Real women don't have to fake it,' she wrote on Twitter in a caption accompanying a video featuring the GOP's female governors.

'Real women. Doing real things,' the ad continues, featuring a picture of Sanders' face on a beer can resembling Bud Light. 

Sanders was White House press secretary between 2017 and 2019 and is touted as a potential future Republican presidential contender.

Her father is firebrand former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.