The Associated Press reports that the Puerto Rico Supreme Court will allow a third gender option on birth certificates. "X" marks the spot, covering anyone that the traditional two picks don't.
The ruling, which also allows nonbinary and gender-nonconforming individuals to update their birth certificates, results from a lawsuit filed by six nonbinary individuals against the territory's governor, health secretary, and other officials.
Pedro Julio Serrano, president of Puerto Rico's LGBTQ+ Federation, hailed the ruling as a historic step toward equality: "Celebramos este triunfo histórico para la comunidad no binaria y que no conforma el género," he posted on Instagram.
The ruling comes more than seven years after a U.S. federal court ordered Puerto Rico's government to allow transgender people to change their gender on birth certificates following a lawsuit if they so wished.
The U.S. territory's governor, Jenniffer González Colón, said she is awaiting recommendations from Puerto Rico's Justice Department regarding the implementation of the ruling.
Previously:
• Puerto Rico didn't suffer a 'natural disaster': it was looted and starved long before the hurricanes
• Puerto Rico to dismantle its statistics agency in the midst of radical shock doctrine project
• Seasteading meets the shock doctrine in Puerto Rico, where ethnic cleansing precedes Going Galt
