The Democratic National Committee, meeting this weekend in Chicago, made a historic move, accepting nonbinary identities for the first time within delegate selection and caucus participation rules.
Previous rules required all committees show parity between male and female members, and required each member identify as male or female. Now, nonbinary people will not be required to do so.
Per the new rules, committees “shall be as equally divided as practicable between men and women (determined by gender self-identification) meaning that the variance between men and women in the group cannot exceed one (1).”
Those who identify as nonbinary will not be put into either a male or female category; the rest of the group will be required to remain equally divided along traditional gender lines.
“At the root of our diverse party is a commitment to inclusion and opportunity,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement to CNN. “By adopting this amendment, the Democratic National Committee is ensuring every Democrat feels welcome and embraced for who they are. This action reaffirms our solidarity with the LGBTQ community and challenges governments, employers, and organizations across the country to do the same.”
This move comes in the wake of more states following Oregon’s lead of allowing a third gender option on official documents, in order to accommodate nonbinary individuals.
This weekend’s event also saw the DNC moving to change their rules on superdelegates, as well as a resolution condemning the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Task Force.
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license