The first recognized genderless person in the US

After taking hormones, Shupe realized he was neither a man nor a woman.

Jamie Shupe, the first person in the US to be recognized as gender nonbinary

An Oregon court has granted a 52-year-old man’s request to identify as gender non-binary, a historic decision that completes Shupe’s transition.

When the court declared Jamie Shupe “free” from the categories of male or female, Shupe felt completely liberated. “Now I have my real life. I am not a man, and I am not a woman.”

Shupe is the first person to be officially recognized as gender nonbinary in the United States, according to Hayleu Gorenberg, deputy legal director of the gay rights organization Lambda Legal.

“The gender categories of male and female don’t fit everyone,” Gorenberg said, adding that the historic decision would help people who don’t know exactly what their gender is.

“I'm not just doing this for myself,” said Shupe, who was born male and is a former Army sergeant.

Jamie Shupe and his partner Sandy Shoupe, who is Jamie's biggest supporter

Shupe grew up in southern Maryland, one of eight children. Shupe remembers feeling rejected and threatened for being “weak.” He didn’t struggle to articulate his feelings about his sexuality. At 49, Shupe is retired, has a wife, and has a daughter, and is starting to see things clearly.

With the support of his wife, Shupe moved to a secluded house in the woods and began taking hormones. "I thought I was a transgender woman. Because I was clearly not a man," Shupe said.

Then Shupe realized being a woman didn't fit either.

"No amount of hormones will make me feel like a woman." Shupe doesn't want to have gender reassignment surgery.

Shupe wanted something else, a third classification. He found an ally in his corner, attorney Lake Perriguey.

Judge Amy Holmes Hehn, who granted Shupe's request, wrote: "Jamie Shupe's gender has changed from female to non-gender. Notice of this legal change is posted in a public place in Multnomah County as required by law."

According to Dan Viet