The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging Ohio’s refusal to correct the gender marker on birth certificates for transgender individuals, for any reason, at any time. Ohio is one of just three states, with Tennessee and Kansas, that has yet to change the extremely regressive and outdated policy.
“This policy is not only archaic and out-of-step with the rest of America but also dangerous. Forcing transgender Ohioans to go through life with inaccurate birth certificates, a basic form of identification, unnecessarily exposes them to discrimination, harassment, and violence. It also denies them their very identity,” Lambda Legal Law Fellow Kara Ingelhart said. “In fact, government officials in Ohio know this, given that they allow transgender people to change the gender on their drivers’ licenses and state identification cards.”
“Ohio’s policy deprives transgender people who were born in Ohio of a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender identity,” said Susan Becker, General Counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. It’s past time Ohio complies with the Constitution’s promise that all people have a right to live freely and openly in society as who they are, without fear of discrimination.”
Word is, it will take approximately one year for the case to wind it's way through the legal system. Go here for more.
2 comments:
For those of us who were born in Arizona, GRS is required before a change of gender on a birth certificate is considered. That is still too constrictive, I think. Also, why does Arizona, or any state, have the power to determine any US citizen's gender, especially when that person does not reside in that state? I haven't lived in Arizona for over 65 years. I have lived in Washington for 50 years, though, and I have all other documentation "adjusted" to show I'm female, but I can't make a change on a birth certificate from Arizona without a surgery.
I have also read that there are states that allow gender changes on birth certificates with certain approvals by medical professionals, but the new birth certificate ends up with a big "REVISED" stamped across it. In that case, there is little point in going to the trouble to attain it.
I can't think of one reason for not having a birth certificate gender change that is any different than the requirements for a change on a driver licence or a US passport. In fact, I can't think of a good reason to even have a gender marker on anything at all! I don't think we need to keep count for statistical reasons; it's always been about 50/50, has it not.
Ohio has that now. It will be interesting to see what the new law requires...or doesn't. It's currently in a very liberal legal district, so we will see what happens.
I am with you though, having a revised birth certificate is as worthless as not having one at all.
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