This thesis explores the impacts of X gender markers on government-issued IDs for nonbinary people in Ontario, Canada. Little research has examined the impacts of X gender markers on nonbinary people. This research addresses this gap through qualitative research with eleven nonbinary Ontarians. While X markers play a crucial role in creating space for nonbinary people, the current approach taken in Ontario is insufficient to create equity for nonbinary people. I explore how nonbinary people adopt, contest, and define the term “nonbinary” and how they relate to X markers, as well as the labour that nonbinary people must perform in order to challenge how the binary is embedded in various public and private contexts. I conclude by arguing that gender marker change should be made more accessible, and that systems must be made more inclusive of nonbinary possibilities.

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.