The gender of Hawaii residents would no longer be included on limited-purpose driver’s licenses under a bill Hawaii lawmakers advanced Wednesday that aims to protect transgender people from discrimination.

The move would help transgender people avoid invasive questioning or discriminatory treatment when using their licenses as a form of identification, such as when seeking employment, renting an apartment, being stopped by the police or just going to a bar.

Senate Bill 568, introduced by Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads, easily passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee with no one testifying in opposition. It must now be heard by the Senate committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary. A House version of the bill was introduced by House Speaker Scott Saiki.

“We just have to change with times,” said Sen. Lorraine Inouye, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee after the hearing.

The bill would apply only to limited-purpose driver’s licenses because the state can’t change federal male/ female identification requirements under the Real ID Act. That law, which was passed in 2005 in response to a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission, establishes minimum security standards for license issuance deemed acceptable for purposes that include accessing federal facilities and boarding commercial aircraft.

To provide an alternative form of identification, the Hawaii Department of Transportation in 2016 began issuing limited-purpose driver’s licenses that grant regular driving privileges but do not require proof of U.S. citizenship or legal authorization to be in the country. The licenses cannot be used to board commercial flights.

The bill follows a 2018 report by the state Department of Health that found a high number of transgender youths in Hawaii had attempted suicide one or more times in the previous year, were four times more likely to skip school because they felt unsafe, and struggled at much higher rates with substance abuse and maintaining a healthful lifestyle. About 3.3 percent, or 1,260 Hawaii public school students, identify as transgender.

The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, which favors the bill, said in testimony there is no legitimate policy goal for including gender on driver’s licenses, and noted in written testimony that U.S. passports did not include a sex marker until the 1980s and Hawaii identification cards didn’t identify gender until five years ago.