Boston city officials held a press conference Tuesday morning announcing that marriage certificates will no longer include gender markers.
The city is seeking to prevent its citizens from having to choose from “very narrow, limited, and delineated options” that may not reflect who people “really are” in regards to gender identity, nonbinary colleague Kimberly Rhoten, a nonbinary member of Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s mayoral cabinet stated during the announcement.
The announcement event included Boston Registrar Paul Chong handing over the updated certificate document to his colleague Rhoten, who got married in June.
The City of Boston has updated our marriage licenses to no longer require sex or gender identification. This change is the first the City has made based on new gender-aware guidelines for City resources.
Learn more: https://t.co/tNlN6PoE51 pic.twitter.com/wngvQ9S3v6
— City of Boston (@CityOfBoston) August 29, 2023
Rhoten serves as the director of Policy & Strategic Initiatives for Wu’s office of Returning Citizens, according to Boston.gov. (RELATED: Socialist Boston Councilwoman With Revoked License And No Insurance Crashes Unregistered Car Into Home With Child In The Vehicle)
“For many … a marriage certificate is a symbol of love and commitment,” Rhoten remarked. “But, unfortunately, for people like me, the certificates’ outdated and narrow gender markers were a glaring reminder that our city still had a long way to go to acknowledging our existence. They were a subtle yet powerful message that our love, our relationships, and our identities were somehow less valid and less recognized under the eyes of the law and the City of Boston.” (RELATED: Massachusetts Gov. Seeks To Allocate $28,000,000 To Implement Policy Allowing Illegal Immigrants To Get Driver’s Licenses)
Walking away from gender markers will “alleviate gender dysphoria,” the city official added.
It will also allow people to feel better about their marriage certificate if they choose to switch genders or pronouns after being wedded, Rhoten noted. Furthermore, “gender categories change overtime, as we’ve seen [sic] in our own lifetimes,” the official continued.
The measure coincides with broader efforts the city has made, like rolling out “gender-aware guidelines” and heightened guidelines for municipal services, which are “intended to improve the way city officials ask people about their gender identity,” Boston.com reported.