Story highlights
- "It feels amazing to be free from a binary sex classification," Oregon resident says
- Legal experts believe it is the state's first such ruling
(CNN)Army veteran Jamie Shupe, who identifies as neither male nor female, can legally be considered nonbinary, a judge ruled.
In what legal experts believe is Oregon's first such ruling, Judge Amy Holmes Hehn said Friday that the Portland resident's sex has been changed from female to nonbinary.
"It feels amazing to be free from a binary sex classification system that inadequately addressed who I really am, a system in which I felt confined," Shupe said.
Shupe was assigned the gender of male at birth, but started transitioning to a female in 2013, more than a decade after retiring from the military as a sergeant first class, Shupe said.
Shupe, who lived in Pittsburgh at the time, said transitioning to a female was the only option available then.
Photos: Transgender celebrities
YouTube star Jazz Jennings is part of the ranks of prominent transgender individuals doing their part to increase the community's visibility in the media. The teen activist appeared in Clean & Clear's digital campaign an stars in a TLC reality show about her life.
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
Former child star J.J. Totah came out as a transgender girl in am essay published by Time magazine. "My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah," Totah wrote.
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
It was announced in July that transgender actress Nicole Maines had been cast as a transgender super hero, Nia Nal, who is described as "a soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others" on The CW's "Supergirl."
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
Ines Rau has become the first openly transgender woman to appear as a Playboy Playmate with her spread in the November/December 2017 issue.
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
Gavin Rossum of the band LCD Soundsystem told Grindr in a July 2017 interview that she's been trying to come out fully as a trans woman for years.
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
In June, the artist formerly known as Charice Pempengco reintroduced himself to the world as Jake Zyrus. The singer debuted a new look in 2015 after telling Oprah Winfrey in an interview the year before that "Basically, my soul is like male."
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
Zeke Smith was outed as a transgender man on a controversial episode of "Survivor: Game Changers." The 29-year-old asset manager who lives in Brooklyn told People he struggled to forgive fellow contestant Jeff Varner who revealed the information during a Tribal Council.
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Photos: Transgender celebrities
Caitlyn Jenner, previously known as Bruce, revealed her new name and gender in Vanity Fair in June 2015. Jenner's announcement was called a watershed moment for transgender visibility. She appeared in the reality show "I Am Cait."
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