US3 min(s) read
Published 09:29 29 Jun 2021 GMT
The state of New York has been applauded for passing new legislation which allows for a third gender option on birth certificates and licenses.
The Gender Recognition Act was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and it gives New Yorkers the ability to chose the term "parent" instead of "father" or "mother" on birth certificates, as well as banning discrimination on the grounds of a person's gender identity, per Independent.
The news outlet reports that it is now one of two dozen laws that recognize non-binary and transgender individuals in America.
Cuomo is pictured below signing the historic act.
New York Assemblymember Danny O'Donnell said that the introduction of the Gender Recognition Act was "a milestone in our fight to secure LGBTQ rights", and said it "will make life safer for trans individuals, reduce stigma, and affirm trans individuals' identities."
"Our work for equal rights is far from over, but we have proven that love is love, that trans lives matter, and that we are ready for the fights ahead," O'Donnell wrote.
The introduction of the Gender Recognition Act was also praised by the anti-poverty non-profit, Legal Services NYC, which said that the recognition of a third gender was making history for non-binary people.
The non-profit tweeted after it was signed by Cuomo: "This is a huge step towards affirming the identities of non-binary and intersex people, who will no longer be forced to misgender themselves on official documents."
Legal Services NYC praised the work of LGBTQ+ campaigners and legislators for the work they put into the act, praising "the countless intersex and non-binary New Yorkers who made this fight possible!"
Andrew Joyce, the chairman of the legislature in Albany County, said that the act would help to create a "more inclusive" New York.
He wrote: "As we continuously work to building a more inclusive New York, I applaud the Governor for signing The Gender Recognition Act and giving New Yorkers once again the respect and rights they deserve."
The Albany legislator said that "LGBTGI+ rights are human rights, and transgender and non-conforming New Yorkers deserve an ID to reflect who they are."
The Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, reports that almost half a million gender nonconforming people do not have their preferred gender identity on a driver's license or state ID.
While this is just the result of one think tank, it suggests that 34% of the transgender community in the US are affected by this issue.
The passing of the Gender Recognition Act in New York comes ten years after same-sex marriage became legal in the state.
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us1 min(s) read
Published 09:56 04 Jan 2019 GMT
People living in New York City can now change the gender on their birth certificates to 'X'.
A new bill, passed and signed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in October, adds the Big Apple to the growing list of US states and cities to offer residents a third gender option.
The change, which took effect on New Year's Day, means that residents are able to make the alteration without a note from a medical professional. In addition, it allows parents to assign newborn babies with gender 'X'.
Other American states that offer this option include California, Washington and Oregon, with similar legislation set to take effect in New Jersey on February 1. Washington, D.C. also allows for the designation on driver’s licenses.
Speaking after the bill was passed, de Blasio, claimed it reflected that New York City is "a place where everyone can belong".
"Should everyone be able to tell their government who they are and not the other way around? That's why this is so important," he said. "One thing that New York City is really good at is being a place for everyone. One of the things we are renowned for all over the world is [that] it's a place where we can all belong."
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He continued to tell New Yorkers to "live their truth", stating: "So many folks for so many years had to deal with documents that did not reflect their reality. I can only begin to imagine what that challenge was like, what that pain was like. That's why Intro 954 is so important.
"In this city, which has been the wellspring of the movement for equality for so long, the home of Stonewall and the modern LGBTQ movement, it is fitting that we lead the way here again.
"To anyone who feels they have been misunderstood or ignored or mistreated, because of their choice of their own identity, a simple message - you be you. Live your truth, and know that New York City will have your back."
Corey Johnson, New York city council speaker, has also previously spoken out on the matter, claiming that there are plenty of New Yorkers who "don’t identify as either male or female."
"There are plenty of New Yorkers who don’t identify as either male or female. Gender is a spectrum for many folks. It’s not a fixed thing," he said. "When you don’t have something as basic and essential as a birth certificate that identifies you as who you really are, it’s a problem."
He added that the city was sending an important message of acceptance, amid a spike in violence against transgender people, claiming: "It gives that individual a level of internal comfort, a level of safety that they’re going to be OK when they’re in average, everyday situations not to be harassed and not to be questioned."
lgbtq1 min(s) read
Published 08:18 05 Apr 2019 GMT
New laws are set to be passed as early as next week, allowing Tasmanian people to change the gender on their birth certificates. The legislation was passed on Thursday night, with eight votes to six, and reportedly is to be formally approved next week, before returning to the lower house to receive approval to become state law.
This means that people over the age of 16 can apply to change their gender through a statutory declaration at the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry. Before, a Tasmanian who wanted to change their gender status on registrars was required to undergo sexual reassignment surgery first. The proposed bill was formulated after a 2016 Equal Opportunity Tasmania report suggested numerous amendments to gender discrimination laws in the region.
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Greens leader Cassy O’Connor claims that the changes to legislation will reduce discrimination against transgender, intersex, and non-binary people, stating: "The flow-on effects of being able to have your birth certificate either gender neutral or changed to your correct gender are profoundly life-changing. At the moment in Tasmania, if Jasper wants to have his birth certificate changed he will need to have a hysterectomy, and that is cruel and unnecessary."
Meanwhile, Tasmanian transgender activist Martine Delaney told The Mercury that the new laws are a cause for great celebration among Australia's LGBT+ movement, stating: "When historians come to write about how Tasmania adopted the best transgender laws in the nation, and the world, they will say the quietest voices spoke the loudest."
However, the move has been criticised by TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) and by Christian fundamentalists. For instance, Bronwyn Williams, a representative of Women Speak Tasmania, stated: "Birth certificates are historical records that serve a number of demographic functions and inform both government policy and legislation on a wide range of areas. This fiction has already eroded the rights of women and girls to female-only spaces and services. If male-bodied people are permitted to be legally recognised as female on the basis of self-identification alone, as proposed by groups like Transforming Tasmania, women’s sex-based rights will be a thing of the past."
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Meanwhile, Mark Brown, state director of the Australian Christian Lobby, claimed: "If you are legally a transgender woman, even if you have a penis you can go wherever you want in terms of women’s safe spaces. Amending a legal document in this way would have many unintended consequences, like jeopardising women only safe-spaces and encouraging potentially dangerous competitive inequalities in sport."
He added: "The sex a child is born with is a scientific and immutable fact. Birth certificates are used to detail such historical truths. A person’s biological sex is changed or removed it greatly diminishes the significance and usefulness of birth certificates. Such changes, therefore, should be off-limits. [sic]"
world2 min(s) read
Published 09:07 12 Aug 2019 GMT
In a world that is continuing to campaign and slowly progress for gender and LGBT+ equality, Australia has taken the latest step in providing trans people with compassion and impartiality, as the state of Victoria is seemingly on the verge of changing the law so that transgender people can change their birth certificate without undergoing sex-change surgery.
Jill Hennessy, Victoria's Attorney-General, introduced the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill back in June, in a conscious attempt to ensure that the state's laws are "compatible with human rights", the Daily Mail has reported.
The proposed bill will be debated in the Victorian Parliament later this week - four months after Tasmania's upper house voted to make gender optional on birth certificates and allow someone to change their gender by signing a statutory declaration.
It is expected that the Labor government bill will pass through the Legislative Council thanks to support from the Green Party and other left-leaning smaller parties, although the Opposition is set to vote against the legislation.
Melbourne 3AW broadcaster Neil Mitchell came under fire after suggesting that the change would be "symbolic". Animal Justice Party upper house MP Andy Meddick quickly shot down Mitchell's comments, saying: "No, it's not symbolic. For people who are transgender, this means everything in the world to them."
Mr Meddick's 20-year-old son, Eden, is transgender, and the MP spoke candidly about how Eden revealed his gender dysphoria at age 14. Meddick stressed to the broadcaster how a person's birth certificate is more than just a piece of paper:
"For them, when they go to get a driver's license, the driver's license doesn't reflect who they are. When they go to get a passport, it doesn't reflect who they are.
"They feel isolated, they feel separated from the rest of the world.
'This is another way, it makes us more inclusive as a society that we recognize that these people are who they are and they're part of us and we love them and we support them."
If the bill is passed in Victoria, that would mean that New South Wales and Queensland would be the only Australian states that still require someone to undergo sex-change surgery in order to change their birth certificate.
us3 min(s) read
Published 16:26 02 Jul 2021 GMT
The Biden administration is set to give US citizens a gender-neutral option on passports.
In honor of the last day of Pride Month on June 30, the White House announced the change in legislation, as part of a series of sweeping reforms aimed at promoting sex and gender equality in the United States.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained in an official statement that the move was down to the president's "enduring commitment" to the LGBTQI+ community.
Blinken stated:
"The Department of State is committed to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people — including LGBTQI+ persons.
"Most immediately, we will be updating our procedures to allow applicants to self-select their gender as 'M' or 'F' and will no longer require medical certification if an applicant’s self-selected gender does not match the gender on their other citizenship or identity documents."
Per BBC News, however, Blinken added that adding a third gender option - giving a choice to nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming US citizens - will take time. Despite this, he said that the move is on President Biden's agenda.
The announcement comes a week after transgender teen Ashton Mota met with the president at the White House to speak on the subject of the Equality Act.
This bill aims to ban discrimination of an individual or group based on their sexual orientation and gender identity - and was voted in by the House of Representatives back in February of 2021.
In an emotional speech, Mota stated: "My name is Ashton Mota, I use he/him pronouns, and I'm honored to be here with you all today. I am a 16-year-old Black, Afro-Latino high school student from Lowell, Massachusetts. I also happen to be transgender."
Meanwhile, the president described transgender children as "some of the bravest people in the world", and stressed that "it takes courage to be true to your authentic self and to face discrimination [...] It takes a toll."
Biden also named Jessica Stern as the US Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons - a position that had existed under President Obama's administration, but not during Donald Trump's tenure.
Per the White House, Stern's responsibilities will see her "leading implementation of the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World."
She will also "bring together like-minded governments, civil society organizations, corporations, and international organizations to uphold dignity and equality for all."
lgbtq2 min(s) read
Published 10:05 24 Oct 2018 GMT
In a move that has been lauded as an important step by the LGBTQ community, the state of Tasmania in Australia has proposed to remove gender from birth certificates. The proposal is intended to be submitted to the Australian parliament later this year by the Labor and the Green parties, and if the bill is passed it will ensure that registrars of births, deaths and marriages are prohibited from collecting information about the gender of a child, unless given a specific court order.
Currently, someone in Tasmania who wanted to change their gender status on registrars is required to undergo sexual reassignment surgery first. The proposed bill was formulated after a 2016 Equal Opportunity Tasmania report suggested numerous amendments to gender discrimination laws in the region.
Cassy O’Connor, the Greens leader whose son is trans, claims that the changes would help to reduce discrimination against transgender, intersex, and non-binary people. O’Connor stated: "The flow-on effects of being able to have your birth certificate either gender neutral or changed to your correct gender are profoundly life-changing. At the moment in Tasmania, if Jasper wants to have his birth certificate changed he will need to have a hysterectomy, and that is cruel and unnecessary."
However, the move has been criticised by Christian fundamentalists, as well as certain feminist activists, who believe that the bill will compromise the safety of women. For instance, Mark Brown, state director of the Australian Christian Lobby, claimed that: "If you are legally a transgender woman, even if you have a penis you can go wherever you want in terms of women’s safe spaces. Amending a legal document in this way would have many unintended consequences, like jeopardising women only safe-spaces and encouraging potentially dangerous competitive inequalities in sport."
He added: "The sex a child is born with is a scientific and immutable fact. Birth certificates are used to detail such historical truths. A person’s biological sex is changed or removed it greatly diminishes the significance and usefulness of birth certificates. Such changes, therefore, should be off-limits. [sic]"
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Meanwhile, Bronwyn Williams, spokesperson for Women Speak Tasmania, stated: "Birth certificates are historical records that serve a number of demographic functions and inform both government policy and legislation on a wide range of areas. This fiction has already eroded the rights of women and girls to female-only spaces and services. If male-bodied people are permitted to be legally recognised as female on the basis of self-identification alone, as proposed by groups like Transforming Tasmania, women’s sex-based rights will be a thing of the past."
The vote on the proposal is due to take place next month, in Tasmania’s lower house. It's clear that the subject has polarised many voters, but only time will tell what the result will be. Personally, I think a person should be able to do whatever they like with their own birth certificate, and really, how relevant is it to mention your birth sex on it?
