After years of steady growth, the number of 16- and 17-year-olds in California identifying as nonbinary on their driver’s licenses has dropped sharply, according to new data from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
The option for a nonbinary “X” gender marker on state driver’s licenses was introduced in 2019 under the state’s Gender Recognition Act. In the first year, just 38 16-year-olds — the minimum age for a license — selected the nonbinary designation.
Numbers rose steadily, peaking in 2023 with 164 16-year-olds. But the trend has since reversed: The figure fell to 95 in 2024, then dropped again to just 46 in 2025 opting for the nonbinary marker.
The number of 16- and 17-year-olds in California identifying as nonbinary on their driver’s licenses has dropped sharply. Alamy Stock Photo A similar pattern appears among 17-year-olds, with nonbinary identifications declining from 418 in 2024 to 203 in 2025.
Overall, nonbinary markings on California licenses and IDs across all ages continued to climb modestly — from 3,050 in 2019 to 21,140 in 2024 and a whopping 24,236 in 2025.
The total number of 16-year-olds obtaining licenses (regardless of gender marker) was slightly higher in 2025 than in 2023, suggesting the drop is specific to the nonbinary choice rather than fewer teens in that age group choosing to drive.
Experts and observers are divided on what’s driving the decline among California teens to identify themselves as nonbinary on their driver’s licenses, suggesting it may not be reflective of a diminishing social trend.
That is, teens might still identify privately as nonbinary but choose not to mark it on official government documents amid simmering national debate.
Some experts suggest teens might still identify privately as nonbinary but choose not to mark it on government docs. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images University of California, Santa Cruz psychology professor Phillip Hammack, who directs the Sexual & Gender Diversity Laboratory, suggested the drop may be due to the changing political environment, with hundreds of bills targeting transgender and nonbinary issues having been introduced nationwide in recent years.
“It’s hard not to consider the political situation as part of the story,” Hammack said, according to The San Francisco Standard. “There’s a legitimate fear among young people and their parents of ‘Maybe this shouldn’t be on my documents right now.’”
Gallup data indicates about 9.3% of US adults identified as LGBTQ+ in 2024, nearly triple the 2012 figure, with Gen Z around 23%.
Yet recent polling, including a February 2025 Pew survey, shows growing public support for restrictions, such as requiring transgender athletes to compete based on their sex at birth and declining backing for medical transitions for minors.
California remains one of 22 states allowing nonbinary “X” markers on driver’s licenses, though several others — including Florida, Indiana, and Texas — have moved to restrict or eliminate that option.
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedInCalifornia Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, XCalifornia Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!California Post App: Download here!Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
