Freedom Oklahoma Statement on Oklahoma House Passage of SB 1100

April 21, 2022

OKLAHOMA CITY – After three consecutive days on the Daily Activities Calendar buried among a large volume of other legislation, SB 1100 passed the House [75-16] and is headed to the Governor’s desk. This bill bans accurate and affirming identification documents for nonbinary, Two Spirit, and gender diverse people from Oklahoma, and does so at the expense of our mental health and physical safety. In response, Freedom Oklahoma issued the following statement: 

The following is attributable to Nicole McAfee, Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director: 

“As is the case for all of us, nonbinary, Two Spirit, gender diverse, and intersex people need accurate identity documents for a whole host of important reasons. Banning birth certificate corrections would put them in an impossible position, where the gender marker on their birth certificate wouldn’t match those on the other identifying documents. This legislation would make nonbinary, Two Spirit, gender diverse, and intersex people more likely to be falsely accused of fraud and denied jobs, loans, and apartments simply because of non-matching identification. If he signs SB 1100, Governor Stitt opens our state up to more lawsuits that cost money, capacity, and integrity, and exposes our most vulnerable to further harm. 

The passage of SB 1100 feels incredibly heavy, but we’re not done fighting. We are long past the question of if people have the right to have X-gender markers in Oklahoma and are fully engaged in the processes of how. The Biden Administration has issued recommendations and a path forward for the addition of X or ‘unspecified’ gender marker on US Passports, citing the importance of inclusivity, privacy/safety, and clarity. Our friends at Lambda Legal have already begun to litigate this broader attack levied at our community by Governor Stitt last fall, and at Freedom Oklahoma, we will continue to guide folks through the Name and Gender Marker Correction process at our monthly clinics. 

Nonbinary, Two Spirit, intersex, and gender diverse people have always been here. We deserve to thrive here. Our identities are valid, and we deserve processes that allow us to have documents that accurately reflect who we are.”

We know that stories amplifying attacks on 2SLGBTQ+ people have a measurable negative impact on mental health. Please don’t hesitate to access 2SLGBTQ+ affirming mental health support, such as Trans Lifeline (877-565-8860), the Trevor Project (call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678-678), and the LGBT Hotline (888-843-4564)