Ontario has become the first province in Canada to allow transgendered people to change the sex on their birth certificates without requiring gender-reassignment surgery. Under new guidelines, an individual can request a new birth certificate with a letter from a psychologist or physician.
“It’s a huge decision. It’s a remarkably positive decision. This is an important victory,” Susan Gapka, chair of the Trans Lobby Group, told the Star.
Previously, the Vital Statistics Act required proof of surgery, which tribunal member Sheri Price said perpetuated stereotypes about transgendered persons.
Opponents argued that other forms of identification, like driver’s licenses, can already be changed by transgendered people and that birth records were important for statistical information. Birth certificates are, however, used to procure passports.
hyhybt
I don’t think birth certificates should be altered for *any reason whatsoever* except to add new information… including, as needed, that the person is now a different sex than was recorded at birth.
mike1n11
so rediculous, you shouldnt be able to be legally a different sex unless you actually go through the transition, its retarded enough the goverment pays for the surgery, maybe this will save some tax dollars… duur i have a penis but im gonna be a girl now. hey dalton mcguinty i wanna be a dog, can i change my birth certificate also to reflect that?
Red Meat
@hyhybt: I agree, if a person is a proud trans person, that means they accept what gender they were born as, and what gender they know they are. This looks more like hiding your gender because you are ashamed of how you were born. Self-hatred is all I see here.
Shanestud
Some people I guess see as it as internalized trans-phobia while others see it as progressive acceptance by the Canadian government in fully supporting trans people. Good for Canada which already has federal gay marriage and strong anti-discrimination and hate speech laws.
Thomathy
progressive acceptance by the Canadian government in fully supporting trans people
It’s not the Canadian Government; it’s the Ontario Government. It’s not good for Canada; it’s good for Ontario.
_______
In any case, it’s definitely a good thing. It can be important for trans* people to be able to fully identify as the gender or sex that they present themselves as or feel themselves to be. This is another way in which some people can achieve that goal.
hyhybt
@hyhybt: That’s not even remotely what I meant. I was thinking of basic documentation principles. A birth certificate should be a record of BIRTH, with data as known at the time. That’s what it’s for. The thing to do, since some people do change their sex or get adopted, is to *add* the new information, not alter the record to make it appear always to have been that way.