Rebecca Rosenthal, 19, a student at Hampshire College, at Pulaski Park in Northampton. Rosenthal, who identifies as she/they, says that the option to choose designation “X” “makes people feel comfortable and at ease and true to themselves.”
Rebecca Rosenthal, 19, a student at Hampshire College, at Pulaski Park in Northampton. Rosenthal, who identifies as she/they, says that the option to choose designation “X” “makes people feel comfortable and at ease and true to themselves.” Credit: STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Massachusetts is closer to having a nonbinary gender designation on driver’s licenses and birth certificates after a bill passed the state Senate last week allowing residents to choose the option “X” when asked for their gender.

State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, filed the bill, which now heads to the House for consideration. Advocates say that the measure is a significant win for residents who are transgender, intersex or nonbinary, meaning they do not identify as either male or female. 

“People know what gender they are,” Comerford said in a press conference following the bill’s passage in the Senate. “This bill allows us to have their state documents match how they self-identify.” 

Currently, 11 states, including Maine and New York, offer some type of undesignated or nonbinary option on state documents. The state Senate passed a version of the bill last term, but it never came up for a vote in the House.

This year, the bill passed in the Senate 39-1, with Sen. Donald Humason, R-Westfield, casting the lone vote against the measure. 

So, how do Valley residents feel about the legislation? We asked some people hanging out in Northampton’s Pulaski Park.

 

Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.