Posted on 11/08/2006 7:13:19 AM PST by Graybeard58
NEW YORK -- The city wants to make it easier for transgender New Yorkers to switch the sex listed on their birth certificate even without undergoing sex-change surgery, putting the city at the forefront of efforts to redefine gender.
Under present city rules, only people who can show proof of surgery qualify for getting a revised birth certificate. Even then, the only change made is the elimination of any reference to gender on the document.
The new plan, unveiled in September, would let birth records reflect the new gender. It would also allow changes for people who hadn't had genital surgery, but could show substantial proof that they have undertaken other steps to irrevocably alter their gender-identity -- like undergoing hormone therapy.
The policy change is one that advocates for New York's sizable transgender community have requested for years, but which has taken on greater significance in a post-Sept. 11 world of increased security.
New Yorkers need to show picture ID to enter office towers, air terminals, public monuments and all sorts of government buildings. They need them to apply for a job too, or buy beer at a neighborhood deli.
The trouble comes when someone inspects those documents, and notices that a person's listed gender doesn't appear to match the way they look and dress.
"That can be a very dangerous situation for a transgender person," said Cole Thaler, transgender rights attorney.
for the national legal aid group Lambda Legal.
Thaler said having a birth certificate with a gender that matches a person's appearance will ease the way to getting other government records, including passports, drivers' licenses and Social Security records.
Lorna Thorpe, Deputy Commissioner of New York's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, called the current system "outdated."
"A lot of transgender persons use different techniques to switch genders," she said. Some try hormones. A smaller number undergo surgery -- in part because not everyone is medically capable of undergoing the procedure.
All but three states now allow people who have had a sex change to get a new birth certificate and New York City has done so since 1971. The city now issues about a dozen of the revised birth certificates a year.
Of the states that allow similar changes of birth certificates, almost all currently require proof of a gender-reassignment surgery.
Tennessee has a law expressly prohibiting a change of gender on a birth certificate. Ohio and Idaho also won't allow the change because of court rulings or as a matter of administrative policy.
Hey, I'd like to change "Monday" to "Friday" too!
Oh, nevermind.
Does this mean we could have a Henry Clinton running for President in 2008?
So, there are a lot of MF'ers in NYC?........
Hey, at least they don't get their sex change surgery for free like they can here. They often have to wait 5-7 years for gender reassignment surgery on the NHS, but then have the nerve to complain about the wait! They're getting it for FREE, what do they have to complain about? I should be the one complaining.
So you can castrate a homo and it makes him a woman? On the ranch I grew up on, it would just make him a steer.
On the farm where I was raised it would make him "sausage"..........
And I can't wait for ladies' night ... No way I'm paying a cover charge
(extending their line of thinking). Also, even though I look like a Caucasian, I feel very African-American. Therefore, I will make sure to check that box whenever I submit my bids for government contracts (OR applications for anything OR my share of the J. Conyer's reparations proposal that will soon be on its way).
Also, last year we got particularly slow service at a Denny's ... maybe it's not too late to jump on that gravy train.
Just because you change the plumbing in your house does not change the foundation.
You gotta be kidding me. Do they really?!?!?!?!
I guess Hillary wants to run as a man in 2008.
Yeah I'm kidding for now, although there have been a couple of lawsuits filed here in Massachusetts by inmates seeking a sex change.
We're still safe until our kooky supreme court ever gets their hands on it.
"There is no reality, only interpretation."
-Dr. Phil
We're still safe until our kooky supreme court ever gets their hands on it.
The thought of anyone getting that sort of surgery for free is nauseating. I think it's awful that they use invasive and irreversible surgery to correct a mental problem.
Is it now possible, in NY, for Bill Clinton to change his sex on paper only, change his name to Barbara (or some similar name) and run for president in 2008?
I thought Hillary was already a man?
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