Posted on 03/25/2014 3:44:18 PM PDT by Loyalist
The mother of a transgender child wants the Saskatchewan government to remove any record of a person's sex on birth certificates.
Fran Forsberg has filed a complaint to Saskatchewan's Human Rights Commission on behalf of her six-year-old child, Renn, after the province's Vital Statistics Agency refused to change Renn's sex designation from "Male" to "Female" on the youngster's birth records.
Renn was born with male genitalia but has identified as a girl since the age of three. According to the Canadian Pediatric Society, children establish their gender identity between 18 to 30 months. When Forsberg sought to change Renn's birth record, she submitted reports from a physician and psychologist confirming that Renn identifies as a female. The Vital Statistics Agency, however, was not moved.
In Saskatchewan, Forsberg learned a resident can only change the sex designation on a birth certificate after undergoing sex reassignment surgery, a requirement that is considered discriminatory in the province of Ontario.
"We used to have race on our birth certificates — also, what your father did for a living. It's irrelevant," Forsberg told CBC News. "What I would like to see is for gender to be removed completely from birth certificates."
The Forsberg family first realized that Renn, six, didn't feel like a boy inside when she started self-harming about three years ago. Renn would bang her head against the wall unless she was allowed to wear girls' clothing and be called a girl.
Today, her older sister, Krista, 11, likes to help Renn pick her outfits, ranging from black sequin halter dresses to pink frilly gowns. Renn is also allowed to use the girl's bathroom at her elementary school.
"We think people should accept other people for who they are, and not judge them for who they're not," Krista said.
The Forsbergs decided to go public with their campaign, arguing that staying quiet only adds to stigma and discrimination.
"I want people to understand that my kids do not have an issue with their gender or their gender expression," Forsberg said. "It is society's issue."
Changes made in Ontario
Forsberg said that when the gender marker — M or F — on a birth certificate, driver's licence, or passport doesn't match one's physical presentation, it triggers confusion and discrimination.
The Ontario government changed its legislation after the province's Human Rights Tribunal ruled that it's discriminatory to require transgender people to undergo surgery before changing the sex designation on their birth certificates in a decision in 2012.
While the change was celebrated as the first legislation of its kind in Canada, many were not satisfied because it doesn't apply to children under 18 and a person must still present a doctor's note that verifies their gender identity.
The B.C. government is now poised to pass similar legislation regarding its records, after pressure from Harriette Cunningham, 10, who was born a boy but identifies as a girl.
The proposed B.C. legislation falls short of Cunningham's request that gender markers be removed entirely from government-issued ID.
'M' and 'F' add nothing to passports, lawyer says
While birth certificates fall under provincial jurisdiction, they're required for passports issued by the federal government.
Barbara Findlay, a lawyer from Vancouver, has launched a legal challenge to have M and F removed from passports. She reasons that compared to photographs and other biometric security features, a gender marker adds little information.
"If you're going to use a document for identification purposes, and it has photograph on it, a gender marker adds nothing," Findlay said. Since 2011, Australia has allowed citizens to mark an "X" for gender on their passport, rather than "M" or "F." New Zealand followed suit. And in 2013, a new law in Germany allows parents of intersex infants to leave their gender unstated, or "blank," on birth certificates.
Forsberg family is united
At the Forsberg home, Renn's siblings, Tana and Krista, say they've been taught to stand up for themselves and be proud of who they are.
Renn's big brother, Tana, 9, isn't transgender but likes to experiment with girl's clothing. He wears costumes and wigs to church and once entered a drag queen competition. He has also posed as a girl on posters and billboards for the "Pink Revolution" campaign, which is intended to educate people about different gender presentations.
Tana said he has learned to defend himself at school. "Somebody walked up to me and said, 'Are you a girl or a gay boy?' I said, 'Does it really matter?'" he told CBC News.
Their mother said it is important to foster a healthy self-esteem in her children.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, an estimated 20 to 30 per cent of transgender youth have attempted suicide.
Forsberg said filing the human rights complaint is part of making systematic change.
"I don't want my kids to think that they have something to hide or that they have something to be ashamed about, because they don't," she said. "And people who are unkind to children like this, they're the ones who should be ashamed and hiding."
Mother is probably living with another female.
The boy should be removed from the care of his mother who obviously has some mental issues to work through.
CSI Miami did a show where they were desperately searching for a perp an eyewitness had identified, but the DNA evidence was of the other sex. Same thing here. DNA doesn't change, no matter what kind of surgery.
The authors, I’m sure, made a conscious choice not to provide this information.
God help us! Screwing up the mind of a child. The left have completely given themselves over the satan.
Luke 17:2
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
My thoughts exactly. I've read a few stories like this lately. Mothers who wanted girls but got boys, turning the boys into girls. The ultimate in selfishness. And Hitchcock-level twisted.
Close, but it is officially called the United Church of Canada. Most likely mama and the boy/girl attend the UCC, when they attend. The UCC used to focus more on the ‘social’ gospel rather than evangelising. Unfortunately, it was taken over from within by socialists in the 1950’s and they now preach the ‘socialist’ gospel (at least corporately), God’s will being a VERY distant second, or third, or fourth.
They chose to allow homosexual preachers in the early ‘80s and were the first to marry homosexuals. They are so far from the Gospel that many preachers have condemned Israel from the pulpit and corporately, they condemn Israel.
Whatever is the latest trend among the ‘fellow travelers’, you can bet the UCC corporate will jump on the bandwagon. That said, there are still some UCCs that preach the Gospel. The ‘test’ seems to be, if the church is ‘making money’, it can preach the Gospel. If it is costing UCC corporate, a ‘socialist’ gospel ‘preacher is sent to the church.
Mom, you have a mentally ill or seriously confused child. You probably caused or contributed to the illness or confusion. Get the kid REAL HELP!
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