Politics

Over 700 New Yorkers Have Amended Sex On Birth Certificates

(REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Since the city began allowing them to do it in January 2015, over 700 people in New York City have amended birth certificates to reflect a different gender, according to a Heat Street report. The city released the two-year data last week.

Prior to the policy change, anyone trying to have the gender on their  birth certificate changed from one sex to another actually had transform from one sex to another themselves, through a sex change or “gender reassignment” surgery.

No longer. All you have to do is want to change your gender and have a licensed medical or mental-health provider recommend it.

Not only that, if you don’t like the traditionally accepted terminology of “male” or “female” you can opt for “intersex” if you can find the “appropriate documentary evidence from a U.S.-licensed doctor.” The “appropriate documentary evidence” offers a wide range of possibilities.

The first intersex gender was bestowed upon a 55-year-old person possessing female sex genitalia, male chromosomes and dual male and female reproductive organs.

The actual number of people who have opted for the birth certificate change over the past two years is 731. Of that number, 41 were minors who first needed to get their the consent of at least one parent. The ages of those altering their record of birth ranged from five to 76 percent, with slightly more males amending their sex to female:  55 percent 50 percent.

Before it became easier to overrule what was once seen as an accepted fact, about 20 New Yorkers successfully changed their genders.

“As a cascade of anti-transgender legislation begins to sweep across the nation, it is more important than ever that transgender people have access to accurate identification in order to open access to employment, school, travel and banking,” said Carrie Davis, a city official with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene department who recommended that the city make the changes to its birth certificate listings.

California is the first jurisdiction in the U.S. that will soon recognize a third “non-binary” gender on all driver’s licenses that it issues.

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