Veteran can use 'nonbinary' to describe gender, Oregon judge rules
An Army veteran who petitioned for a judgment of sex change may be referred to as “nonbinary,” an Oregon judge ruled Friday.
Judge Amy Holmes Hehn of Multnomah County allowed veteran Jamie Shupe to choose the “nonbinary” description, the Oregonian and CNN report. Shupe’s petition was filed under an Oregon law that allows a court to change the legal sex of a person who has undergone treatment for a gender transition.
Shupe began transitioning in 2013. “I was assigned male at birth due to biology,” Shupe told the Oregonian. “I’m stuck with that for life. My gender identity is definitely feminine. My gender identity has never been male, but I feel like I have to own up to my male biology. Being nonbinary allows me to do that. I’m a mixture of both. I consider myself as a third sex.”
Ilona Turner, legal director of the Transgender Law Center, said the decision may be the first of its kind in the United States.
Hat tip to How Appealing.
