Those who identify as neither male nor female will no longer be required to check one of those boxes for their driver's license or state identification card.

The state Department of Transportation announced Thursday that Pennsylvania has joined 16 other states in offering a nonbinary gender designation — which appears as an “x” on Pennsylvania licenses and ID cards — for those who do not consider themselves specifically male or female.

A media call with PennDOT officials and the executive director for the state Commission on LGBTQ Affairs was held Thursday to explain the new designation.

“It is clear that offering driver's licenses and identification cards with male and female gender designations was not meeting the needs of our customers,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian.

Kurt Myers, PennDOT's deputy secretary for driver and vehicle services, said while PennDOT has issued 273 licenses and ID cards containing an “x” under the gender listing in the last two years, it could not be entered as the individual's gender in their PennDOT driver's record.

Myers said the system has now been updated, and the nonbinary designation will be recorded as the individual's gender in their PennDOT record.

He said no physician documentation is necessary to use the “x” or to change genders on a driver's license, and residents are not required to wait until their license must be renewed to change their designation.

Myers said those interested in changing their gender designation to “x” can print out form DL32 from the PennDOT website, fill it out and bring it to any driver's license center.

Staff will make the change in the data system and a new card or license will be issued. There are no fees associated with changing to the nonbinary designation.

“It's very straightforward,” he said.

Rafael Alvarez Febo, director of the state Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, applauded PennDOT for adding the “x” option in the gender category.

“This is a really important step that PennDOT is taking to better serve Pennsylvanians from across the commonwealth,” he said. “We as a community are really starting to show the importance of the ability to say, 'We don't have that binary.'”

He also appreciates that no physical examination documents are required to determine gender for a license or ID card.

“Not needing a third party to tell PennDOT that your gender is what you know it is is very important,” Febo said.

Myers said transgender Pennsylvanians have been able to change their gender designation for decades, but physical documentation from a doctor was required.

“It's now streamlined for self-certification for any gender change,” Myers said.

He did not have a prediction as to how many residents will change to the “x” designation, but he said Ontario, Canada, which is similar to Pennsylvania in the number of drivers' licenses issued, has 450 to 500 licenses with a nonbinary gender identification. Myers said Oregon, one of the first states to offer a nonbinary option on drivers' licenses, is in the 3,500 range regarding the designation.

Gramian said it was important to her that the process to change one's gender designation to “x” in Pennsylvania was as simple as possible.