The Arkansas Supreme Court has eliminated the option for residents to use a neutral gender identification on their state ID cards as of Tuesday.
The decision reinstates a state law that prohibited the use of “X” for gender identification. A lower court had previously blocked this law earlier in the month, arguing it would harm transgender residents.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, praised the ruling in a public statement.
“I applaud the Arkansas Supreme Court’s decision staying the circuit court’s unlawful order and allowing the Department of Finance and Administration to bring its identification rules into compliance with state law,” he said, Fox reports.
The Arkansas ACLU had sued to overturn the legislation this spring, resulting in the earlier court order blocking the new rule.
“The only real emergency here is the one created by the state itself, imposing this rule on transgender, intersex, and nonbinary Arkansans,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas.
Arkansas State Representative Robin Lundstrum joined Tucker Carlson to discuss the radical gender affirming care for minors pushed by the Left:
Lundstrum: "90% of America's population are against transitioning minors." pic.twitter.com/EzOFxyx9bt
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 29, 2022
“By removing the ‘X’ marker option, the state forces those who do not fit squarely into the gender binary to choose an inaccurate gender marker, resulting in potential confusion, distress, discrimination, physical harm, and a lack of proper identification,” she added.
Fewer than half of U.S. states allow “X” as a valid gender on identification forms. With Arkansas’ departure, 21 states and Washington, D.C., maintain the policy.
WATCH: Arkansas state Sen. Matt McKee, at hearing on bill that would ban gender-affirming treatment for minors, asks transgender woman if she has a penis pic.twitter.com/4DDIhZdGiM
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 15, 2023
Of Arkansas’ 2.6 million active driver’s licenses, just 387 had the “X” designation. The state also has 503,000 IDs, of which 167 had the “X” designation.
