California Gov. Jerry Brown last month signed the Gender Recognition Act, a hallmark piece of legislation that makes California the first state to legally recognize a third gender option on legal documents — gender nonbinary.

California citizens can now change the gender on their birth certificates and licenses and even select a nonbinary gender on other government-issued legal documents. This legislation has significant implications for LGBTQ civil rights, inclusion, and overall mental health for the nonbinary community. We’re now challenging gender norms, legally, and we’re one step closer to true, visible change for the no-binary community at large. But we still have a long way to go.

But what does nonbinary even mean? Before the law propelled nonbinary individuals into the spotlight, many people outside of the LGBTQ community (and even some within) were unfamiliar with this term, which describes individuals who may not identify with their sex assigned at birth, and many are also unaware of the frequent discrimination experienced by those in the non-binary community.

Not surprisingly, nonbinary people often experience something called “minority stress.” Minority stress describes discriminatory acts like facing invasive questions or rude comments. But it can also include job loss, isolation, or homelessness, simply because of the way one identifies their gender. And the mental health implications are significant, with national data finding that more than 40 percent of transgender and nonbinary people have seriously considered suicide in their lifetime — nearly nine times the U.S. average.

The Gender Recognition Act is a huge step forward, but it won’t fix everything. This is just one step toward equality for those that live outside the binary. But nonbinary individuals across the globe still face discrimination from a variety of sources, including from binary gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals, who one might expect to be their closest allies. Public safety is also still a significant issue of concern.

Read more in The Advocate.