The city wants to
make it easier for transgender New Yorkers to switch
the sex listed on their birth certificate even without
undergoing reassignment surgery, putting the city at
the forefront of efforts to redefine gender. Under
present city rules, only people who can show proof of
surgery qualify for getting a revised birth certificate.
Even then, the only change made is the elimination of
any reference to gender on the document.
The new plan, unveiled last month, would let
birth records reflect the new gender. It would also
allow changes for people who hadn't had genital
surgery but could show substantial proof that they have
undertaken other steps to irrevocably alter their
gender identity, such as undergoing hormone therapy.
The policy change is one that advocates for New
York's sizable transgender community have requested
for years but which has taken on greater significance
in a post-September 11 world of increased security.
New Yorkers need to show picture ID to enter office towers,
air terminals, public monuments, and all sorts of
government buildings. They need photo IDs to
apply for most jobs or even buy beer at a neighborhood deli.
The trouble comes when someone inspects those
documents and notices that a person's listed gender
doesn't appear to match the way they look and dress.
''That can be a very dangerous situation for a transgender
person,'' said Cole Thaler, transgender rights attorney for
the national legal aid group Lambda Legal.
Thaler said having a birth certificate with a
gender that matches a person's appearance will ease
the way to getting other government records, including
passports, drivers' licenses, and Social Security
records. Lorna Thorpe, deputy commissioner of New York's
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, called the
current system ''outdated.''
''A lot of transgender persons use different
techniques to switch genders,'' she said. Some try
hormones. A smaller number undergo surgery in part
because not everyone is medically capable of undergoing the procedure.
All but three states now allow people who have
had a sex change to get a new birth certificate, and
New York City has done so since 1971. The city now
issues about a dozen of the revised birth certificates a
year. Of the states that allow similar changes of
birth certificates, almost all currently require proof
of gender-reassignment surgery.
Tennessee has a law expressly prohibiting a
change of gender on a birth certificate. Ohio and
Idaho also won't allow the change because of court
rulings or as a matter of administrative policy. (David B.
Caruso, AP)