New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law on Thursday providing options for genders beyond male and female on official state documents.
The new law, called the Gender Recognition Act, allows New Yorkers to designate their gender as “X” on driver’s licenses and to list their gender identity on other official documents. Additionally, state residents will be able to emend their birth certificates if they transition to another gender later in life.
“Every New Yorker deserves to be free from discrimination and have state-issued identification and processes that respect them for who they are, recognize their gender identity and protect their safety,” Cuomo said in a statement. “New York continues to lead the way in ensuring LGBTQ people are treated equally in every part of the law and society.”
Cuomo signed the bill on the ten-year anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act of 2011, which legalized civil marriages for same-sex couples.
Cuomo is currently facing multiple investigations into his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in state nursing homes as well as allegations of sexual harassment. The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed communications related to Cuomo’s book on the pandemic, American Crisis, pertaining to the epidemic in nursing homes, according to the Wall Street Journal.
New York attorney general Letitia James is heading an investigation into multiple allegations of sexual harassment against the governor. James declined to give a timeframe for that investigation in comments to Politico on Thursday.
“I cannot give you a date on when it will be concluded,” James said. “It will conclude when it concludes.”