White House Petition to Recognize 'Non-Binary Genders' Gets Over 100,000 Signatures
A petition posted on a White House website seeking legal recognition for "non-binary genders" has garnered over 100,000 signatures.
The petition was created in March and has surpassed the 100,000 mark well in advance of its April 20 deadline. With the benchmark reached, according to the Obama administration's "We The People" website, the White House must issue an official response to the petition.
"Legal documents in the United States only recognize 'male' and 'female' as genders, leaving anyone who does not identify as one of these two genders with no option," reads the petition in part. Titled "Legally Recognize Non-Binary Genders," the petition was created by "LS" of Herndon, Va., and placed under the category of civil rights and liberties. As of Monday morning it has more than 101,000 signatures.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"This petition asks the Obama administration to legally recognize genders outside of the male-female binary, such as agender, pangender, genderfluid and others, and provide an option for these genders on all legal documents and records."
The Administration claims that the We The People website "provides a new way to petition the Obama administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country," because the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees that U.S. citizens have the right to petition the government.
"We created We the People because we want to hear from you. If a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it's sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response."
While compelled by their own standard to respond to the petition, it has been pointed out by multiple sources that several petitions on the We the People site have garnered over 100,000 signatures yet go months without a reply.
A petition calling for Justin Bieber to be deported hasn't received an official response even though the petition garnered over 200,000 signatures by early February.
Other petitions, like one calling for the Muslim Brotherhood to be designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government, have been waiting since last August for an official reply.
The most recent official response came for a petition created in February to designate opening day for the Major League Baseball season a national holiday.
"While we are sympathetic to your pitch to make opening day a national holiday, it's a little outside our strike zone," responded Josh Earnest of the White House.
"… Creating permanent federal holidays is traditionally the purview of Congress. So, it's up to the men and women on Capitol Hill to decide whether to swing at this pitch."
