Proposal would let transgender New Yorkers change birth certificates without surgery
BY ERIN DURKIN
Posted: Oct 6th, 2014

Transgender New Yorkers would be able to change the gender listed on their birth certificate without proving they have had sex-reassignment surgery under a proposed overhaul to be introduced Tuesday.

More: http://nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/proposal-transgender-new-yorkers-change-birth-certificates-surgery-blog-entry-1.1965316

Oh sure, now that bottom surgery is becoming a reality for me within the next year! But seriously, this would be fantastic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/nyregion/easing-the-law-for-new-yorkers-shifting-gender.html

My understanding -- from what an attorney who attends our local trans support group has said about the issue -- is that this would apply to people born in New York, and only them.

Birth certificates are kept/issued  by the state where someone was born, regardless of where the person moves to, so whether one can change one's birth certificate depends upon where one was born.  According to the attorney, the state where I was born (Virginia, USA) is fairly backward that way ("The land of the Boll Weevil / where the laws are medieval").

The reason this is a "good thing™" is because NYC had different and tougher rules than the rest of the state. This brings them in line.

And, BTW, LOVE Tom Lehrer!

Quote from: Dee Walker on October 09, 2014, 12:30:41 PM
The reason this is a "good thing™" is because NYC had different and tougher rules than the rest of the state. This brings them in line.

And, BTW, LOVE Tom Lehrer!

Yeah, NYC still has the surgery requirement while NYS had it removed.

Quote from: Asche on October 09, 2014, 12:16:41 PM
My understanding -- from what an attorney who attends our local trans support group has said about the issue -- is that this would apply to people born in New York, and only them.

Birth certificates are kept/issued  by the state where someone was born, regardless of where the person moves to, so whether one can change one's birth certificate depends upon where one was born.  According to the attorney, the state where I was born (Virginia, USA) is fairly backward that way ("The land of the Boll Weevil / where the laws are medieval").

Yup, this is true. Months back DC changed their laws on this but it was only for people BORN IN DC and so I figured that applied to the rest of the world too... Still waiting for mine to get it's act together and change theirs...

Quote from: Marcellow on October 09, 2014, 02:35:04 PM
Yeah, NYC still has the surgery requirement while NYS had it removed.

Wow! I thought it would have been the other way around. When we applied for our kids' birth certs they actually let us choose the gender for the mother and father, so I thought NYC was more progressive in that respect. Guess not.