Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Amy Holmes Hehn ruled Friday that Jamie Shupe's legal sex would be changed from female to non-binary.

It's really exciting for the courts to actually recognize what we know to be true: gender is a spectrum. Some people don't identify as male or female.

--Nancy Hacque, Basic Rights Oregon

Shupe, an Army veteran who retired in 2000 a sergeant first class, began transitioning in 2013 while living in Pittsburg. Shupe knew then that neither male nor female fit. Shupe chose "Jamie" as a new first name primarily because it is a gender-neutral name. Shupe prefers to be called "Jamie," rather than by a pronoun.

I was assigned male at birth due to biology. I'm stuck with that for life. My gender identity is definitely feminine. My gender identity has never been male, but I feel like I have to own up to my male biology. Being non-binary allows me to do that. I'm a mixture of both. I consider myself as a third sex.

--Shupe

Female or male were the only legal options Shupe saw then. Shupe chose female, but female never felt right. In April, Shupe and lawyer Lake Perriguey filed a petition with the Oregon court to legally change Shupe's sex (to non-binary).

Oregon law allows a court to change a person's legal sex if a judge determines the person has undergone surgical, hormonal or other treatment related to a gender transition. The law does not require a note from a doctor.

Shupe brought letters from Oregon Health & Science University, as well as the Veterans Affairs hospital, anyway.

The sexual reassignment has been completed. No person has shown cause why the requested General Judgment should not be granted.

--Judge Hehn

A growing number of countries already recognize nonbinary genders, but as far as we know this is the first ruling of its kind in the U.S. Other states and agencies should consider following suit to ensure that nonbinary members of our community have access to identity documents that reflect who they are, just like everyone else.

--Ilona Turner, Transgender Law Center

But, Haque said, there is still work to be done. Basic Rights Oregon is working with "public and private systems" across the state to offer people designations beyond male or female. Oregonians cannot list "non-binary" on a driver's license or state-issued identification card, for instance. Others have been denied medical services, Haque said, because their gender identities don't conform to existing norms.

It's a huge barrier to being able to live your life, to having a driver license, to employment, to having records about your life, transcripts, all of those things.. In all the ways our lives are gendered in ways they frankly don't have to be, it can be a barrier for people whose identities aren't easily put in a box.

--Hacque