Kansas will no longer change transgender people’s birth certificates to reflect their gender identities, the state health department said Friday, citing a new law that prevents the state from legally recognizing those identities.
The decision from the state Department of Health and Environment makes Kansas one of a handful of states that won’t change transgender people’s birth certificates. It already was among the few states that don’t change the gender marker on transgender people’s driver’s licenses.
Those decisions reverse policies that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration set when she took office in 2019. They came in response to court filings by conservative Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach to enforce the new state law. Enacted by the GOP-controlled Legislature over Kelly’s veto, it took effect July 1 and defines male and female based only on the sex assigned to a person at birth.
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It’s a record of birth that you use to verify your identity. Gender doesn’t need to be on there at all - “Oh, it says on this birth certificate that you’re a boy, so I guess we know for sure that you are indeed Steve Smith!” But if it’s on there, it should match the gender that the adult identifies/presents as. There’s no reason the DMV needs to know what your genitals were (or, really, what the doctor thought your genitals looked like) when you were born. Imagine any other private information about your physical body being a public record - “We’ll start processing your home loan now, Mr. Smith, sorry that you were born without nipples. That’s gotta be rough!” It’s stupid. And, of course, it’s also cruel. But you seem pretty unbothered by that part.
Birth certificate states facts about your birth. These facts don’t change because your birth happens once and then life goes on.
Should I be able to change the dates on my birth certificate so that I can retire early?
Do we not use gender to help identify people in criminal cases? Do we not also use legal documents to help prove facts in court?
I’m all for letting people change their current identity. Want to change it on your passport and driver’s license? Fine. These are documents that are supposed to remain current and expire after some time.
All of these replies are asking why I even care…. I honestly don’t, I’m just saying that OP does have a point in the first half of their comment.
the constitution is a legal document and it’s been amended 27 times
What a silly argument. We have legal documents that change because of peoples feelings used all the time. What do you think Marriage licenses and Divorce decrees are? How does someone changing their their birth certificate hurt you…at all?! Can you name one single person that has change their gender on their birth certificate? No of course not. Neither can I, because it doesn’t affect either of us at all. The only person it hurts to restrict changing is the person itself. Why do you intentionally want to cause someone suffering when it doesn’t affect ANYONE ELSE NEGATIVELY?
The main issue with these specific legal documents though is that often if you can’t change your birth cert you can’t change your passport or driver’s license and those two things are way more impactful.
Travelling as a trans person can be incredibly scary. If you look, sound and act like something not listed in the sex category of your documents there’s a solid chance that your documents will be treated as suspicious or if you happen to be in a place where people aren’t shy about being bigoted it gives an avenue that immediately flags you as trans can offer people the pretext to detain, harass and abuse you or to deny you services. Being strip or cavity searched by airport security to sate their personal curiosities is a real threat.
Being as invisible as possible offers safety to trans people from bigotry particularly during vulnerable moments of dealing with authorities. If you have physically transitioned then some times you can’t pass as your birth gender anymore which means your documents, adhereing to some sort of perfunctory definition of sex can make you actually less safe. It’s not about “feelings”.