Alex Wong/Getty Images, Oklahoma State Legislature
- Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement "there is no such thing" as nonbinary people.
- State Rep. Mauree Turner, who is nonbinary, criticized Stitt for his comments.
- A recent settlement allows Oklahoma residents the ability to designate themselves as nonbinary on their birth certificates.
A nonbinary state lawmaker from Oklahoma said it was difficult to work with people who "adamantly oppose your existence" after the state's governor said there was "no such thing" as nonbinary people.
Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, made the comments in response to a settlement with the State Health Department that allowed state residents to identify as nonbinary on their birth certificates, The Oklahoman reported.
"I believe that people are created by God to be male or female. Period," Stitt said in a statement. "There is no such thing as non-binary sex and I wholeheartedly condemn the purported OSDH court settlement that was entered into by rogue activists who acted without receiving proper approval or oversight."
Stitt did not immediately return Insider's request for comment Saturday.
Republican members of the state legislature, along with the governor, attempted to prevent the measure, which came after an Oregon resident who was born in Oklahoma petitioned the state to reissue their birth certificate, according to The Oklahoman.
"I will be taking whatever action necessary to protect Oklahoma values and our way of life," Stitt said.
His comments drew criticism from Democratic members of the state legislature.
"To be able to have that autonomy and have that part, that real intimate part of you really kind of recognized in a big way is really, really important in more ways than one," Democratic State Rep. Mauree Turner, who is nonbinary, told KOKH of the ability to designate sex as nonbinary on birth certificates.
Turner, who is the first openly nonbinary member of any US state legislature, said Stitt's comments make it difficult to work together.
"If you have to work with people who adamantly oppose your existence, right, to the point to where we can't work together, you can't talk to me, you can't talk to me like I'm a human being, you don't see me, that damages anyone's working relationship," Turner said.
"If we are continuously saying like, 'You're not real, you have to suppress that part of you,' what is that going to do to our community?" Turner continued. "What's that going to do to our kids."
Other Democratic members of Oklahoma's state legislature also spoke out against Stitt's comments.
"The governor's suggestion that non-binary people don't qualify as Oklahomans is abhorrent and completely unbecoming of a governor. Moreover, it is dangerous," House Minority Leader Emily Virgin said, according to The Oklahoman.
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