Argentina has changed passport and ID rules to permit a non-binary gender identification for the first time. 

It is the first country in South America to introduce gender neutral passports and IDs. 

Argentina already allows citizens to identify as gender neutral under law.

The change means that Argentinians who do not identify as male or female can select 'X' in the gender section. 

Argentina's Center-Left President Alberto Fernandez, was quoted by Deutsche Welle as saying that there were "a thousand ways to love, to be loved and to be happy," and that "the state should not care about the gender of its citizens". 

"There are other identities than men and women and they must be respected," he said.

He continued, "The ideal will be when all of us are just who we are and no one cares about people's gender.

"This is a step we are taking and I hope one day we get to the point where IDs don't say if someone is a man, woman or anything else."

It is the latest progressive step in the country, which has permitted same-sex marriage since 2010 and allowed people to legally identify as the opposite sex without a medical transition since 2012.