Vermont considers 3rd gender option on driver's licenses

MONTPELIER, Vt. – State residents who don't identify as male or female may soon be able to choose another gender on their driver's licenses.

Vermont Public Radio reports the Department of Motor Vehicles' new computer system will allow a third gender option.

Vermont Human Rights Commission Executive Director Karen Richards said the proposed change would help protect transgender people during traffic stops.

"I think it's a major victory for folks who are transgender," Richards said. "It acknowledges who they are, and that's an important thing for us to do."

The state DMV asked a panel of public safety officials if the change would have an impact on police officers' work. The Law Enforcement Advisory Board said members aren't opposed to the idea and would remain neutral on it.

"The general opinion around the table was that it wasn't going to impede the way we conducted our business," Law Enforcement Advisory Board Chairman Richard Gauthier said.

Oregon, California and the District of Columbia offer a third gender option in their driver's license systems.

The third gender option in the Vermont system hasn't been named. DMV officials said they'd want to use something that's uniform nationally.

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Information from: WVPS-FM, http://www.vpr.net