An X on the ID card

On 14 October 2022, Shane Cienfuegos presented an identity card in Santiago de Chile that looked quite ordinary at first glance. But the sex field showed neither F nor M, but an X. This made Shane the first person in Chile whose non-binary identity was officially recognised on an ID card.

A long struggle had preceded this moment. In 2018, Chile had passed a gender identity law allowing trans people aged 14 and over to change their name and gender marker. However, it provided for only two genders. People who see themselves as neither a woman nor a man remained excluded.

Together with lawyer Lorena Lorca, Shane therefore went to court. In the summer of 2022, the Court of Appeals of Santiago ruled in Shane's favour: the binary gender marker on the birth certificate did not reflect Shane's gender identity and violated human dignity. The civil registry had to change the entry. A little later, the new identity card was issued too.

Shane was 29 at the time and had already experienced bullying and street violence as a teenager. As a social work professional and member of the organisation Organizando Trans Diversidades, Shane campaigns for the rights of trans and non-binary people. When receiving the ID card, Shane stressed that the success was not a personal victory but a collective one.

For other non-binary people, recognition nevertheless remained difficult. There was still no general rule. Anyone else wanting an X on their ID had to go to court, with the costs and uncertain outcome that entailed. According to the lawyer, around sixty similar cases were pending at the time.

Chile was not alone in the region in taking this step: a year earlier, Argentina had become the first Latin American country to introduce ID cards with a non-binary gender marker. Yet for Chile, where sex between men had been a crime until 1999, the small X still meant a big step forward.