Sask. gender diverse community weighs in after SGI makes sex designation on IDs optional

When Miki Mappin looked down almost a decade ago to see a long-awaited "F" for female on her driver's licence, she remembers rushing to post a picture of it on social media in excitement.

After much back-and-forth with government officials to have her sex designation changed, it offered the Saskatoon transgender woman and LGBTQ+ activist a sense of validation.

"It was great. I felt so happy and proud," Mappin said, recalling the event during an interview with CBC News on Tuesday.

Now, Saskatchewan Government Insurance has announced it will allow people to leave the sex designation blank on their driver's licence or SGI-issued photo identification card should they so choose. 

The move comes in the wake of a Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission complaint and after feedback from customers that the "X" designation for "unspecified" — which roughly 300 residents currently use — didn't resonate with everyone, said SGI spokesperson Heather Hubic. 

"We heard from members of our community who said they'd prefer the option of no letter, so — in consultation with the human rights commission — we've now been able to put the resources and processes in place for us to leave that spot entirely blank," Hubic said.

Any Saskatchewan resident can now make the change to their identification at no cost at any licence issuer in the province. Documentation is not required.

Morgan Moats, chair of UR Pride in Regina, is among those in Saskatchewan who plan to update their driver's licence as soon as they can.

As a non-binary person — someone who doesn't identify as either male or female — Moats says an empty space offers them more safety than an "X" because it leaves room for fewer questions.

"An 'X' says, 'I'm not a man or a woman,' whereas the blank says, 'It's none of your business,'" Moats said. 

"Some people might feel more affirmed to have no sex on the card at all … because 'none of your business' is much better than 'I am transgender' when you're showing your ID to whoever has to see it."

For Mappin — who fought so hard to have the sex designation changed on her driver's licence — the idea of taking that off is complicated.

"There's just the validation. If someone says, 'Oh, you're not a woman!', you can say, 'You know, I am — here's my driver's licence!' Mappin said. "But we really shouldn't need to have our driver's licence to prove our gender or our sex."

Mappin hopes that this change from SGI will lead one day to the sex designation being removed from everyone's photo identification.