The first person to have received one of Washington D.C.’s new gender-neutral driver’s licenses is reportedly an American University professor.
American University newspaper The Eagle reports an AU alum and adjunct professor Nic Sakurai was the first person in the entire United States to receive a gender-neutral driver’s license after Washington, D.C. made them available on June 27.
A write-up in the Washington Post claims Sakurai, who uses “they/them” pronouns, left home at 4:24 a.m. to be the first person in line to get a license with an “X” instead of the traditional “M” or “F."
Sakurai, who serves as the associate director of the University of Maryland’s LGBT Equity Center, reportedly started identifying as neither male nor female in 2003.
Sakurai told the Eagle, “I feel like every day of my life, I’ve had an I.D. that isn’t accurate to who I am.”
“To finally have that corrected and at least not feel excluded based upon that is quite an exciting thing and relief to finally have,” Sakurai continued.
However, Sakurai also told the Eagle that “they” did not feel like driver’s licenses should list gender or sex at all, but that if they do, they should have options that are “accurate.”
“I don’t think that at the end of the day, that my driver’s license or anyone’s needs to have a gender or sex listed at all,” Sakurai said. “Having options that allow people to put something that is actually accurate is important.”
Sakurai also elaborated to the Washington Post that “they” do not experience gender at all.
“I am neither a man nor a woman,” Sakurai said. “I don’t experience a gender, I don’t feel as one gender or another. I don’t think of things that I do — my affectations, how I dress, the kinds of things I am interested in — I don’t think of them to be about gender.”
As noted by the College Fix, the American University faculty profile for Sakurai lists “they” as an adjunct instructor in the School of Education. The profile includes Sakurai’s preferred pronouns, “they/them,” in the summary.
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