Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that the state would ban the use of “X” on driver’s licenses and that state IDs must identify the individual as either male or female, according to an announcement first shared with The Daily Wire.
Sanders’ office announced that the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) would rescind previous administrative procedures that allowed people to use an “X” designation instead of male or female on state-issued IDs. The ID must now align with the gender on the birth certificate of the resident.
“This policy is just common sense,” Sanders told The Daily Wire. “Only women give birth, men shouldn’t play women’s sports, and there are only two genders. As long as I’m Governor, Arkansas state government will not endorse nonsense.”
Current Arkansas residents who have “X” on their IDs can continue to use them as they will be valid until they expire, then must be updated with either male or female. The new policy requires the gender marker to be in compliance with a person’s original or amended birth certificate.
The policy allowing the use of X on IDs first rolled out in 2010, was flagged for DFA Secretary Jim Hudson after he began reviewing department policies in August 2023. Hudson said that the new policy was made in conjunction with Arkansas law.
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“This change announced today reflects a commonsense approach that ensures a license or ID issued by the State of Arkansas is based on objective, verifiable information,” Hudson said. “All of our stakeholders in law enforcement, other government agencies, caregivers, schools, and businesses depend on DFA-issued licenses and IDs to keep our communities safe and to prevent fraud. The discontinued policy is not supported by Arkansas law and was never subject to public comment and review by the Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC), as required by the Administrative Procedures Act.”
On Tuesday, the DFA will submit an emergency rule to the Arkansas Legislative Council’s executive subcommittee for review.
“We are committed to implementing this new policy in a manner that is respectful towards all of our customers,” Hudson said.
Sanders previously issued an executive order to remove “woke, anti-women” language from government documents, replacing words like “pregnant people” with things like “pregnant women” or “pregnant mom.”