Fact Sheet: California’s Gender Recognition Act (SB 179)

California’s Gender Recognition Act (SB 179), signed into law on October 15, 2017, makes it significantly easier for all transgender people who are living in or were born in California to obtain identity documents that reflect their genders, and makes California the second state in the county to offer a standard path to obtaining a nonbinary gender marker on state documents.

That said, the law does not go into effect all at once, and only affects certain documents. Notably, it does not affect documents issued by other states or the federal government (including Social Security cards, passports, and documents issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services). This fact sheet offers some clarification of the timeline and nature of the changes.

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The Legal Information Helpdesk provides basic information about laws and policies in the United States that affect transgender people across many areas, including employment, health care, housing, civil rights, immigration, prisoners’ rights, and identity document changes.

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Transgender Law Center changes law, policy, and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.

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