James Shupe

James Clifford Shupe[2] (born 1963; formerly Jamie Shupe) is a retired United States Army soldier who in 2016 became the first person in the United States to obtain legal recognition of a non-binary gender. In 2019, he released a statement explaining that he had "returned to [his] male birth sex".[3] He has since become a vocal critic of the concept of gender identity.[3]

James Shupe
Shupe in 2019
Born
James Clifford Shupe

(1963-08-10) August 10, 1963
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Military career
Allegiance United States
BranchUnited States Army
Service years1982–2000
RankSergeant First Class
Awards
Children1

Biography

Born male, Shupe grew up in southern Maryland as one of eight children.[4] He and his wife, Sandy, were married in 1987.[5] They have one daughter.[4] He served in the U.S. Army for 18 years, receiving a number of military decorations, and retired in 2000 as a sergeant first class.[1]

Shupe has written that he was physically and sexually abused by relatives during childhood.[6] He recalls his mother punishing him for behaving like a "sissy",[5] and says that he was denied the right to explore his gender expression or gender identity.[1] That suppression continued through his military career, which included periods before and during Don't ask, don't tell.[4][1] After he retired, Shupe began living as a transgender woman in 2013. He chose the gender-neutral first name "Jamie" and convinced the Army to change his sex marker to female on military records.[7][8]

In June 2016, Shupe successfully petitioned a Multnomah County, Oregon, court to change his sex designation to non-binary, in the first legal recognition of a non-binary gender in the United States.[7][4] That November, he was issued a birth certificate in Washington, D.C., with a sex marker of "unknown".[8] Lambda Legal later cited Shupe's petition as a legal precedent for non-binary gender markers in the passport lawsuit Zzyym v. Pompeo.[9]

Shupe is a critic of transgender surgeries, cautioning against what he says are high complication rates.[10] He has also expressed opposition to transgender people serving in the military.[11]

In 2018 Shupe and his wife moved to Ocala, Florida where Shupe says he feels safe and in a community that aligns well with his values.[12][13]

In January 2019, Shupe announced that he no longer identified as non-binary and was returning to identifying as male. He said that his original motivation for transition was autogynephilia and that he was experiencing symptoms of psychosis when he sought a non-binary sex marker.[6][14] In March, Shupe changed his first name back to James.[2]

In December of 2019, Shupe successfully petitioned the court which granted the "non-binary" gender designation to revert the sex listed on his birth certificate to "male." The petition filed by Shupe described the sex designation of non-binary as "psychologically harmful legal fiction."[15]

References
  1. Miner, Colin (2016-06-12). "Military Veteran Says 'Jamie' is Neither Male Nor Female". Portland, OR Patch. Archived from the original on 2016-06-13. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  2. Shupe, James (2019-03-25). "Jamie Shupe Name Change: Please Address Me As James Shupe Now". Website Of James Shupe (Formerly Jamie Shupe). Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  3. Shupe, Jamie (26 January 2019). "Public Announcement: I Have Returned To My Male Birth Sex". Website Of Jamie Shupe.
  4. Dake, Lauren (2016-06-16). "Jamie Shupe becomes first legally non-binary person in the US". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  5. O'Hara, Mary Emily (2016-07-23). "Why can't the nation's first legally nonbinary person get an ID?". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  6. Shupe, Jamie (2019-03-10). "I Was America's First 'Nonbinary' Person. It Was All a Sham". The Daily Signal. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  7. Mele, Christopher (2016-06-13). "Oregon Court Allows a Person to Choose Neither Sex". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-06-13. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  8. Woodstock, Molly (2017-03-10). "Male? Female? Jamie Shupe Battles for a Third Option". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  9. "Case: Zzyym v. Pompeo (formerly Zzyym v. Tillerson & Zzyym v. Kerry) Plaintiff's Reply Brief". Lambda Legal. 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  10. Dorman, Sam (2018-11-17). "Some Veterans Call for Taxpayer-Funded Gender Surgery — This Fmr Army Sergeant Tried Transitioning and Disagrees". IJR. Archived from the original on 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  11. Foden-Vencil, Kristian (2017-07-26). "Oregon's Transgender Population Reacts To Trump's Military Ban". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  12. O'Neil, Tyler. "Transgender Surgery Scars Are 'Beautiful,' Jazz Jennings' Mom Says". PJ Media. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  13. Medina, Carlos. "Gender identity pioneer calls Ocala home". Ocala.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  14. Bawer, Bruce (2019-02-13). "A Transgender Hero Breaks Ranks". pjmedia.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  15. O'Neil, Tyler. "First Trans Person to Obtain Legal 'Non-Binary' Sex Status Changes Back to Birth Sex in Blow to LGBT Movement". PJ Media. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
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