(Editor’s note: A name has been changed in the story to reflect the person’s chosen last name. An earlier version of the story used the person’s birth name, as provided to us. The person cited safety concerns in asking for the revision.)

Three years ago, no one in the USA was legally recognized as neither male or female.

Today, thousands of people can point to a gender-neutral marker on state driver's licenses and identification cards, according to records obtained by USA TODAY.

After two more states announced plans last week to offer a gender X or nonbinary marker, advocates said momentum for the option can help validate gender identity, but the designation can also raise safety concerns.

The National Center for Transgender Equality encourages people to choose the marker that feels most appropriate and comfortable, said Arli Christian, the organization's director of state policy. More states offering the gender-neutral designation, Christian said, allows more people to access accurate IDs.

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At least 7,251 gender X IDs and driver's licenses have been issued in nine states plus Washington, D.C., according to records obtained by USA TODAY from state departments. Indiana is the only state that issues gender X IDs that did not respond to USA TODAY's records request.

Although the number of those people who got the marker for increased privacy around their gender versus the number of people who got it to reflect their nonbinary identity is unknown, advocates described the progress as exciting.

"I'm really happy for all those people, but I'm not surprised there's quite a few," said Dana Zzyym, a nonbinary and intersex activist who sued the State Department for a gender-neutral passport. "I think the nonbinary population will surprise a lot of people in this country."

States issuing gender-neutral IDs

Ten states offer gender X IDs: Arkansas, Oregon, Minnesota, Maine, Utah, Colorado, California, Indiana, Nevada and Vermont. In the coming months, policies in Maryland, New Hampshire and Hawaii will go into effect.

Washington and Pennsylvania announced plans last week to roll out a third gender option, and their departments are likely to pass the rule changes.

In July 2017, Oregon was thought to be the first state to begin issuing gender X IDs, just after Washington, D.C., started its policy. However, Arkansas adopted a policy allowing people to change their gender marker with no questions asked in 2010, and it remains in place, said spokesperson Scott Hardin of the Department of Finance and Administration.

Five other states join Arkansas in allowing people to self-certify, or designate their own gender, while Maine, Utah, Colorado and Indiana require residents to provide documentation for gender changes. Requirements include approval from medical providers, which can be difficult to obtain in places where few doctors are trained to provide gender-affirming care to transgender people, Christian said.

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"In order to get the most accurate gender marker on an ID, that reporting should come directly from the individual without additional barriers such as medical documentation and medical provider signatures," Christian said.

Validation? Or discrimination?

Mari Wrobi, 22, has the opportunity to self-certify the gender marker in California.

A nonbinary and intersex person, Wrobi held on to the paperwork to get the gender X marker for months as the transgender ban in the military went into effect and the Trump administration announced plans to scrap rules protecting transgender people from discrimination in homeless shelters and health care.

The feeling of excitement for the marker gave way to concern, said Wrobi, who worried that the X designation could out transgender nonbinary people or mark them as "other" in today's political climate.

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Wrobi considered all the people who examine IDs – from TSA agents, bouncers to bank workers – and asked: Do I want to feel validated in my gender, or do I want to feel safe?

"We give our ID to so many people that have so much power over our lives," Wrobi said. "They have the power to decide if we can get a loan or if we can continue to drive and so many other things. These people don't always outwardly express their bigotry toward people who are trans, intersex and nonbinary, but they certainly can have views that are homophobic, transphobic and that are just essentially dangerous toward us."

Wrobi is passing on the X marker for now but described the opportunity to get a gender-neutral ID as "incredible" and respects those who choose the "X."

The correct ID marker, after all, can affirm people's identity and benefit their mental health, said Jules Baldino, micro-grants coordinator at Trans Lifeline, a nonprofit transgender support organization. People look at their ID often in daily life, so seeing an official document reflect who they are can be encouraging.

When IDs don't match how people present their gender, Baldino said, needing to show it can trigger feelings of depression, anxiety and gender dysphoria, a discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth. Authorities who check the ID may confront the person for the discrepancy, Baldino said, possibly concluding the card does not belong to them.

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In the largest survey of transgender people's experiences in the USA, about a third of respondents who showed an ID with a name or gender that did not match their gender presentation said they were verbally harassed, denied benefits or service, asked to leave or assaulted. The National Center for Transgender Equality, which conducted the survey, has not received any reports of people facing discrimination for having an X gender marker, Christian said.

While working with transgender people applying for grants to update their government IDs, Baldino said, Trans Lifeline has heard safety concerns. Some worry that authorities who check IDs may not understand what a gender X marker means, Baldino said, possibly leading to invasive questions about their sex and body or harassment.

"I think there will be this time where there's a lot of people who might interact with these IDs who don't know what that is," Baldino said. "That could potentially put people's safety in question."

How large is the nonbinary population?

More than one-third of transgender people identified as nonbinary or genderqueer, terms describing people whose gender is not exclusively male or female, in a U.S. survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2015.

About 1.4 million American adults identify as transgender, according to a UCLA think-tank report in 2016, and if 35% of those people are nonbinary, that could put the nonbinary population at about 490,000.

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The survey and study do not include minors, meaning the numbers could be higher since research shows members of Generation Z are more familiar with nonbinary identity.

About 35% of people ages 7 to 22 say they personally know someone who prefers to go by gender-neutral pronouns such as "they," according to the Pew Research Center. That number is 12% among baby boomers, and one of four millennials say they do.

Nonbinary people existed long before states began legally recognizing them, said Zzyym, 61.

Zzyym first tried to get the X gender marker on a driver's license around 2012, before some Gen Z nonbinary activists were old enough to drive. As one of the first to obtain a gender-neutral license in Colorado last year, Zzyym described a feeling of deep satisfaction to USA TODAY: finally, a document that recognized Zzyym's identity.

Future advances, improvements

As more states consider offering gender-neutral markers for IDs, Baldino described the present as a pivotal moment for recognition of nonbinary identity. Trans Lifeline will continue to offer grants to update IDs and track the processes and fees for updating gender makers in different states, Baldino said.

Policies for updating IDs can be improved, said Christian, who works with state and local governments to make gender changes on documents more accessible by offering self-certification. Removing requirements such as medical documents or court orders can take expensive and time-intensive steps out of the process, especially for people in rural areas.

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Various agencies can update their databases to offer a gender-neutral option, the way United Airlines rolled out a nonbinary booking option.

On the federal level, advocates watch Zzyym's case for a gender-neutral designation on passports play out in the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. A district court judge ruled in Zzyym's favor in September 2018, saying the State Department exceeded its authority when it denied Zzyym's passport application and did not make its decision reasonably. The department filed for an appeal.

“It’s absurd that the State Department would rather me just randomly check a box: male or female," Zzyym said in a release by Lambda Legal, which represents Zzyym in the case. "It’s not who I am, and it would expose me to greater scrutiny when my Colorado driver’s license now shows ‘X.' "