NJ MVC will now allow gender designation changes on licenses without doctor's note

New Jersey drivers will now be able to change their gender designation on their license without a doctor’s note, the state motor vehicle commission announced.

Residents will be able to change their gender to male or female on a driver’s license or non-driver identification card through a form on the motor vehicle commission’s website, NJMVC Chief Administrator Sue Fulton said in a statement.

“Allowing customers to change their gender designation to reflect their gender identity is deeply important for showing that all New Jerseyans are valued equally,” Fulton said.

According to the statement, the MVC will offer an "X" option for non-binary people later in the year.

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Those who want to change their gender designation must give up their current driver’s license and pay a fee of $11, the statement said.

Babs Siperstein, a prominent transgender activist who died in February last year, championed the notion of an individual being able to change their gender designation without requirements such as proof of surgery and a letter from a medical provider, such as a therapist note, for 10 years.

In July 2018, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the “Babs Siperstein Law,” which removed the proof of surgery requirement, a required medical note and allowed a third gender option of “X” for non-binary people on their birth certificates.

Siperstein died just two days after the bill was signed into law, at the age of 76.

Anthony Zurita is a breaking news reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all the major news happening in North Jersey, subscribe here. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

Email: zuritaa@northjersey.com Twitter: @AnthonyRZurita