Arkansas Gov. Sanders signed Act 711, barring the 'X' marker and requiring only 'M' or 'F' sex designations on state IDs

On April 16, 2025, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed House Bill 1796, enacted as Act 711 of 2025, requiring that gender information on an Arkansas driver's license or identification card be stated only as "M" for male or "F" for female. Sponsored by Rep. Beaty Jr. and Sen. B. Johnson, the law prohibits the Office of Driver Services from issuing a card that lists gender information as "X" or that omits gender information. It defines "gender information" as the sex stated on an applicant's identity document — an original or amended birth certificate, passport, or federally issued identification — and requires an amended birth certificate to change the designation on a state ID.

The statute codifies into law a Department of Finance and Administration rule that had ended the "X" option and required the sex marker to match a person's birth record, a change the ACLU of Arkansas had challenged in court on behalf of transgender and nonbinary residents. By fixing the marker to birth-certificate sex and removing the nonbinary option, the law forecloses the administrative pathway those residents had used to obtain identification reflecting their gender identity.