Only in America

last updated 8 January 2015

The city of San Francisco has decided to omit gender from ID cards it will issue to city residents so as not to offend the transgender community. The new ID cards, to be given to anyone who requests one, will include name, birth date, and a photo, but not the usual “male” or “female” designations. Activists had argued that it’s highly inconvenient for people who change genders to make their legal documents match their new identity. “When they go from one gender to another, the state gives them some hassle about what is desirable for validation,” says Tom Ammiano, a member of the Board of Supervisors. “Having a municipal ID helps them quite a bit.”

A New York man whose license plate reads “Get Osama” had the plate recalled by the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, on the grounds that it may offend someone. Arno Herwerth, a retired New York City cop, received the plates two weeks ago, but officials notified him he had to send them back because they violated a ban on plates that are “derogatory to a particular ethnic or other group.” Herwerth said the only group he could imagine being offended were members of al Qaida. “This is unbelievable,” he said.