# Why do we even have sex/gender on drivers licenses or passports? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240 "2025-09-20T22:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/21 "2025-09-21T08:51:36Z")
In the case of licences “we” don’t. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/22 "2025-09-21T11:20:50Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > They have sex for the same reason they have race, so I can’t borrow/steal someone’s ID, insert my picture, and try to con my way out of trouble by pretending I’m someone else or gain access to something I’m not supposed to have access to. Huh? Canadian here, I do not have a single document that lists my “race”. It was listed on old documents like my grandparents marriage licenses, but race is not scientific and horribly outdated. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/23 "2025-09-21T11:23:33Z")
Is that a useful reduction, given all of the other markers in DNA? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/24 "2025-09-21T11:44:53Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Rather than arguing over M, F and/or X, I’m wondering why that entry isn’t simply eliminated. Me too. It’s routinely taken as an identifier, along with DOB, but is it necessary? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/25 "2025-09-21T12:36:22Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > If you are using DNA to narrow your search for someone, you can immediately exclude half the IDs you might have to inspect if gender is noted Who is using DNA when they require you to show ID? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/26 "2025-09-22T02:26:12Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > They have sex for the same reason they have race . . . Googling this, I cannot find any state that commonly has the driver’s race shown on the license. North Carolina has a spot for RACE but is it is normally blank. [A racial designation is listed on a driver license only if the person seeking the license wants it.](https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2016/06/28/american-indians-can-designate-race/22300008007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z112610u115610e003500v112610&gca-ft=219&gca-ds=sophi&gnt-djm=1) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/27 "2025-09-22T15:39:45Z")
Neither my British passport or driving license show my gender, race, height, eye colour or anything else other than my name, DOB and address. In these day of biometric data, what would even be the point! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/28 "2025-09-22T16:47:08Z")
It probably could have been eliminated decades ago but for bureaucratic inertia. I can see how there may have been a time before photos were on documents where as much info as possible was needed but eye color isn’t even useful anymore. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/29 "2025-09-22T17:00:20Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Neither my British… …driving license show my gender not directly, but as you’re a woman the 7th and 8th characters will be your birth month+50 ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/30 "2025-09-22T17:24:35Z")
Huh? My British passport has ‘Sex: F’ listed, and it’s one issued last year. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/31 "2025-09-22T17:43:33Z")
I have had United States passports since 1978. I have had driver’s licenses from 3 different states since 1991. I have had many student and employee IDs, including a state-issued security guard ID. Race has not been listed on a single one. I’m black, so that is the sort of thing I would notice. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/32 "2025-09-22T18:50:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Asking a why question in FQ is essentially impossible. The “why” is buried in the logic some bureaucrats had in their heads X years ago when US passports first had sex printed on them. Which might date from the very first year there was such a thing as a passport. Whatever rationale they used, they almost certainly didn’t write it down, nor if they did, are those process notes available to the public today. Actually, WRT passports, I’d imagine there should be a good chance of tracking down some legislative/rule-making history. (At least, so long as the Federal Register remains public and reliable. Not a 100% sure thing.) Apologies that I haven’t exerted that effort yet myself. I did take a quick glance at some of the pleadings in Orr - the currently pending challenge to the XO. I had hoped that they would have some brief discussion of the history of including sex, but the ones I skimmed did not appear to. And the discussion of race impresses me as somewhat off topic. One person raised it and has not returned. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/33 "2025-09-22T23:10:27Z")
I’ll just use this as representative, since I’m taking a beating on this. I was wrong. I didn’t look at my license, if I had I would have seen that race is NOT on it. Not the first time I’ve been wrong, won’t be the last, either, but I always own it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/34 "2025-09-23T10:13:49Z")
My Japanese drivers license doesn’t list gender and, not surprisingly, they don’t list eye or hair color However, my alien registration certificate does list gender. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/35 "2025-09-23T10:44:00Z")
My Oregon Real ID license doesn’t even have hair color. I know my previous one did, because I noted that it was wrong; my hair having turned grey in recent years. The height and weight on it are also wrong, but only by a small amount. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/36 "2025-09-23T15:48:10Z")
Huh, you’re right, I totally missed that! ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/37 "2025-09-24T16:08:23Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It probably could have been eliminated decades ago but for bureaucratic inertia. I can see how there may have been a time before photos were on documents where as much info as possible was needed but eye color isn’t even useful anymore. This would be my thought too. Pictures on drivers’ licenses is relatively recent. They used to be computer-printer on pre-printed forms. So, anything that narrows down identification would help. As mentioned, hair colour could be arbitrary (especially for women). After all, there are plenty of gender-ambiguous names, but often people dress in a way that is typical for their gender. But name, gender, and age (date of birth) narrows down the field a decent amount. Before photos, borrowing a person’s license to get into bars while under-age was common. Still works for people who look similar (the old trope “borrow older sister’s license”). They’ve never bothered to change - inertia. Not sure about licenses (never tried) but I read an article on stolen laminated police ID cards a while ago that mentioned that prying open the lamination to change the picture would cause the card to turn black. Most of that stuff now is preprinted plastic cards with security features like holograms. ---
**Author:** ![Larsedik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larsedik/32/19832_2.png) [@Larsedik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larsedik)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/38 "2025-09-24T18:37:19Z")
I’m not sure what color my eyes are either - they are a combination of green and light brown, but sometimes they look completely green. And one can change their eye color with contact lenses. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/39 "2025-09-24T18:55:27Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Pictures on drivers’ licenses is relatively recent. Here in Illinois they started using photos in 77. California started much earlier - think they were pretty widespread by early 80s. Not sure how early the started even issuing drivers licenses, but 40-some years ain’t exactly yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240/40 "2025-09-24T19:30:31Z")
NY started issuing licenses in 1903 but those were badges. Starting in 1910, chauffeur’s licenses\* had photos - but only chauffeur’s licenses. Ordinary licenses didn’t get photos until 1984. \* Not 100% sure what that covered then - but I htink anything other than an ordinary passenger car - taxi, bus truck [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-even-have-sex-gender-on-drivers-licenses-or-passports/1023240.md?page=3)