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Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and other Republican leaders expressed outrage Thursday after learning the State Department of Health issued a birth certificate this year with a nonbinary gender designation.

 

The agency issued the birth certificate in May to Oregon resident Kit Lorelied, who was born in Oklahoma, identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. People who are nonbinary do not identify with traditional male or female gender assignments.

 

Lorelied sued after the Oklahoma State Department of Health initially refused the request. The department, represented by the Office of the Attorney General, reached a settlement in May in which it agreed to add nonbinary as an option on birth certificates.

 

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt condemned the settlement Thursday:

 

“I believe that people are created by God to be male or female. Period,” Stitt said in a statement. “There is no such thing as non-binary sex and I wholeheartedly condemn the purported OSDH court settlement that was entered into by rogue activists who acted without receiving proper approval or oversight.”

 

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia currently recognize nonbinary gender status and permit such designation on identifying documents, according to Lorelied’s lawsuit.