You no longer need to be undergoing hormone or plastic surgery, all one needs now is the statement that you feel you were born in the wrong body.
Changing Transgender Birth Certificates
New regulations make it easier to alter the gender listed on birth certificates.
The New York City Board of Health has approved a proposal to change the process by which transgender individuals can get the gender listing on their birth certificates changed. The change is being welcomed by many in the transgender community who say the process has left them open to discrimination.
The current practice, which has existed since the 1970s, required trans people to show proof of convertive surgery. The gender on their certificate would then be expunged, but no alternative gender would be put in its place.
"Any time that one of us shows a birth certificate that either shows no gender or the wrong gender, in a best case scenario it will be confusing," said Gabriel Arkles, staff attorney at the Silvia Rivera Law Project, which has been working on the issue for four years. "But all too often people are subjected to discrimination or harassment or even violence, or are accused of submitting false documents and are denied the service that they need."
Arkles said the issue has become increasingly challenging in the post-9/11 atmosphere where people are routinely required to show ID. "You use a birth certificate when you try to get a drivers license or a state ID or a passport," he said.
People also need birth certificates to prove that they are eligible to work in certain jobs, to get certified in some professions, and when they are applying for shelter, housing programs or other benefits in New York.
The new process entails two major changes. People will no longer be required to show proof of convertive surgery in order to have their gender changed. Instead, people can submit sworn statements by two different physicians who confirm that they have been living as the opposite gender. This will give people who have transitioned but chosen not to undergo surgery a way to apply for a change in their certificate.
Second, the certificate itself will now be fully amended with the new gender while leaving no visible indication that a change has been made.
Arkles, who was part of the expert advisory committee that worked with the Department of Health on new recommendations, said the changes would put the city back at the forefront of the issue. The original changes in 1971 had been progressive at the time, he said, but he added New York City had "fallen terribly behind" the curve since then.
"This change would actually make New York City a leader again among birth certificate jurisdictions," said Arkles. "Hopefully, this will have a great impact not just on transgender people who are born in New York City, but hopefully this will be looked at as a model in other birth certificate jurisdictions."
Arkles said a public hearing on the change is scheduled for 2–4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 30, at the Department of Health, 125 Worth St. But a final decision on the regulations will not be made until the following Board of Health meeting, which will likely be in December or January.
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Originally Posted by Teabagger
