Transgender Sue Over Surgery Requirement to Alter Gender on Birth Certificate
Rule Is Discriminatory and Genital Surgery Is Costly, Sometimes Unnecessary, Legal Groups Say
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
March 24, 2011
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/transgender-yorkers-sue-birth-certificates-genital-surgery-requirement/story?id=13204628 (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/transgender-yorkers-sue-birth-certificates-genital-surgery-requirement/story?id=13204628)
Joann Prinzivalli's New York City birth certificate still reads: Paul Joseph Prinzivalli Jr., male, even though she transitioned to a woman more than a decade ago.
"At the age of 4, when I first realized the difference between boys and girls, I knew I belonged with the girls," said Prinzivalli, 57, a title insurance lawyer. "I hated getting my hair cut. I didn't know the differences in genitalia, but I knew in the 1950s that girls had long hair and wore dresses and boys had short hair and pants."