HOOD RIVER, OREGON ¨C Oregon became on Thursday the first U.S. state to allow residents to identify as other than male or female on state driver¡¯s licenses, a decision that transgender advocates called a victory.

Under a policy unanimously adopted by the Oregon Transportation Commission, residents can choose to have an ¡°X,¡± for nonspecified, displayed on their drivers¡¯ license or identification cards rather than an ¡°M¡± for male or ¡°F¡± for female. The move was cheered by supporters as a civil rights victory.

The state¡¯s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division expects to start offering the option in July.

¡°I very much plan to head to the nearest DMV and ask for that ID to be corrected on July 3rd,¡± said Jamie Shupe, an Army veteran who successfully petitioned for the nonbinary gender option. ¡°And then I¡¯ll no doubt stand out front of the building, or sit in the car, and cry.¡±

Transgender rights have become a flashpoint across the United States after some states, including North Carolina, have tried to restrict transgender people¡¯s use of public bathrooms.

At the end of May, a federal court ruled that a transgender boy must be allowed to use the boys¡¯ bathrooms at his high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The decision in Oregon comes a year after a Portland circuit court judge granted a request by Shupe to change gender from female to a third, nongender option.

That 2016 ruling prompted state officials to examine how to allow a third option in the state¡¯s computer systems and how such a change would interact with the state¡¯s gender laws.

During public hearings on the change, most comments were in favor, according to a summary by DMV officials.

A handful of people questioned the need for the third option and expressed concern that the change would complicate police officers¡¯ efforts to identify people.

A DMV spokesman added the agency has no estimate of how many people might apply for the new IDs.