October 23, 2012 8:00 am
Court asked to approve new policy for issuing corrected Illinois birth certificates for transgender individuals
http://www.aclu-il.org/court-asked-to-approve-new-policy-for-issuing-corrected-illinois-birth-certificates-for-transgender-individuals/CHICAGO – Three transgender individuals will ask Cook County Judge Michael Hyman today to approve a consent decree in a class action case designed to ensure that transgender individuals can receive new birth certificates that reflect their correct gender from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Today's "fairness" hearing is the latest step in a lawsuit filed in May 2011 on behalf of three individuals who wished to change the gender on their Illinois birth certificates without being required to undergo genital surgery the State previously has demanded.
"The agreement before the court today will ensure that the State of Illinois gets out of the business of compelling transgender Illinoisans to undergo unnecessary genital surgery that is not recommended by someone's physician," said John Knight, director of the LGBT Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. "It is critical that our clients and others are able to get birth certificates that accurately reflect who they are without being required to undergo costly surgery that they may not want or need. The State never should have involved itself in these private decisions about medical care."
