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Loading...Lawsuit Filed Against NYC Over Failure to Correct Transgender Birth Certificates
The group Transgender Legal Defense & Education Network this week announced a lawsuit against New York City over the city’s practice requiring transgender people to undergo surgery before they can be issued with amended birth certificates, claiming this is arbitrary, costly and, for many people, inappropriate.
From the TLDEN’s press release:
New York, New York – The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene challenging the city’s practice of requiring transgender people to undergo surgery before it will issue them birth certificates with corrected sex designations. This is the first lawsuit to challenge a surgical requirement for correcting whether someone is classified as “male” or “female” on a birth certificate. It alleges that the city’s surgical requirement is arbitrary, and that it subjects transgender people to harassment and discrimination in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law.
The case is brought on behalf of three transgender people born in New York City who have tried to obtain corrected birth certificates. Each submitted medical documentation indicating that the sex designation on their birth certificates is incorrect, but because they have not undergone specific surgical procedures required by the city, officials have refused to provide them with updated, accurate birth certificates.
The vast majority of transgender people have not undergone the extensive surgical procedures demanded by the city before it will change the sex designation on birth certificates. Most cannot afford these procedures, and for many, they are medically inappropriate.
“A birth certificate is a fundamental form of identification,” said Noah Lewis, staff attorney at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), which is representing the plaintiffs. “By refusing to give transgender people accurate birth certificates that reflect who they are, the city subjects transgender people to harassment and discrimination in areas like employment where ID is essential to proving eligibility to work.”
Sam Berkley, one of the plaintiffs, is a transgender man. Despite having undergone hormone therapy and surgery, the city has refused to change his birth certificate from female to male because he has not had the specific form of surgery that the city requires. “I’ve known since I was 5 years old that I’m male,” said Mr. Berkley. “I’ve undergone medical treatment as part of my transition and the medical documentation I submitted from my doctor should be sufficient to get my birth certificate corrected. Until it’s corrected, I fear that I’ll be subjected to harassment and discrimination whenever I need to present my birth certificate,” he added.
Joann Prinzivalli, a second plaintiff, has a similar story. Despite being labeled male at birth, Joann knew from earliest childhood that she was a girl. “As a very young child, I desperately wanted to grow my hair long to look like all the other girls. But my parents always insisted that I get my hair cut, and I dreaded that,” said Ms. Prinzivalli. “I am a woman. My birth certificate was incorrect when it was filled out, and it is still incorrect today,” she added.
Ms. Prinzivalli would like to have the surgery that the city requires in order to change her birth certificate, but it has been ruled out by her doctors for medical reasons. “This policy is unfair to me and to other transgender people who just want ID that matches who we are,” she added.
The third plaintiff, Patricia Harrington, had a long journey before being able to live as her true self. “When I was very young, I was bullied and harassed for behaving like a girl, and I learned very quickly that I would need to suppress my true identity to get through life,” Ms. Harrington said. “It wasn’t until I was forty years old that I finally started to live freely as a woman. It’s been a long journey, and it’s important to me that the City correct my birth certificate so that I can present ID that reflects who I am today.”
“Proper ID is essential for full participation in society,” added Mr. Lewis of TLDEF. “As long as the City discriminates against transgender people by denying them accurate ID, transgender people will continue to be pushed to the margins of society.”
The cases are JOANN PRINZIVALLI v. THOMAS FARLEY in his official capacity as HEALTH COMMISSIONER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, NEW YORK CITY BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS, NEW YORK CITY OFFICE OF VITAL RECORDS, NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF HEALTH, NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE, and THE CITY OF NEW YORK, Supreme Court, New York County, No. 114372/2009;
TLDEF also wrote a letter to the Montana Senate this week urging lawmakers to reject a bill that would overturn a Missoula City trans and gay inclusive nondiscrimination law and prevent other cities from enacting similar measures. Read more on that here.
Under the threat of a separate lawsuit, New York City also recently adopted a new policy designed to protect trans applicants’ rights when they seek a marriage license. You can read more on how that came about here.
Read more: civil rights, gender identity, gender reassignment, gender reassignment surgery, new york, new york trans rights, trans rights, transexual, transgender
Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, with thanks to -Marlith-.
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thanks for sharing
I'm happy for her! Thank you!!
Read the labels? Oh yeah, I forgot, labels never lie........
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+ add your ownWhen a doctor delivers a baby and sees a vagina, s/he checks off female on the birth certificate. That's just as unfair as if the baby came out in pigtails and a dress and was labelled female. And if it turns out that the child he delivered is really a boy, then the doctor made a mistake, one that should be corrected on the birth certificate. Which brings me to the fundamental flaw of birth certificates: Why include sex in the first place? It's a subjective characteristic, one that is determined by how one expresses themselves later in life. What the doctor does by assigning a baby's sex on her/his birth certificate is prejudging someone's gender by some arbitrary body part, and we learned a long time ago that reducing someone's identity to their parts is wrong and discriminatory. It makes as much sense as having sexuality on a birth certificate.
The hateful comments around here are almost unbelievable. They would be if anti-trans bigotry wasn't so ubiquitous. So let me break this down slowly for you dopes. Sex is as much an arbitrary and social construction as gender. Does that surprise you? So many people on Care2 identify as feminists (including myself), so this should surprise you, since we've learned that sex is biologically fixed and gender is socially constructed. This definition kept trans women and their interests out of the feminist movement forever. Biology has always been read as "real." Here's how it works. "Women wear dresses." While this is true, some women don't wear dresses, and some men do wear dresses. So wearing dresses isn't a reliable indicator of someone's gender. "Women have vaginas." This is just as true as "women wear dresses." And it has the same logical flaws: Not all women have vaginas, and some men do have vaginas. Therefore, vaginas or any other primary or secondary sex characteristic isn't much of an indicator of gender either.
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This doesn't make sense. A birth certificate establishes who and what you were to the rest of the world at birth, including the gender-based terminology assigned to one with specific genitalia, regardless of whether or not you were born in the wrong body. If your parents give you a name that you find reprehensible, you are free to change it, but that doesn't change your birth certificate, either.
HUMMMMM!
Why is NYC always so behind?
Live & Let Live!!
Why are transgender always lumped together with gay, lesbian and bi-sexual. Gays, lesbians and bi-sexual are born with their sexual orientations in tact. Transgender are born in the wrong body and change the outside to match how they feel on the inside. We are talking apples and oranges here. I dont get it.
WOW, Yes a birth certificate is a record of birth but WHY does the gender matter?? If a person is on the appropriate road to their correct gender why should a decades old piece of paper be such a sacred thing?? It is not jumping through hoops for "these people"...ever try getting your name changed for ANY reason?? Hoops happen but not allowing someone's required ID to correctly state their IDENTITY (see ID identity...that's the purpose of a birth certificate right??) Is just ludicrous, let them get it amended!
To David J.
I am transgender and don't have deep psychological problems. I am not a "poor soul" and haven't "mutilated" my body. Your comment is ugly, ignorant and intentionally offensive. I am responding to it to highlight its bigotry. Transgender people exist, whether or not you or anyone else "condones" their right to do so. And having accurate, matching identification is necessary to navigate the world. I can't imagine why it matters to anyone here except me and whatever authority is reviewing my ID what gender is listed on my birth certificate. If a Driver's License and Birth Certificate are conflicting, as mine are, the potential for problems goes beyond basic intolerance. Sometimes people are just trying to live authentically and do everyday things that require proper ID, hardly a radical proposition.
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