New York City currently follows outdated and discriminatory regulations that require transgender men and women to undergo genital surgery before the Department of Health will issue them birth certificates with corrected sex designations. This policy, which was put in place more than 40 years ago, means that if a transgender person does not have genital surgery, they cannot have the sex classification on their birth certificate changed, even if they provide ample and extensive medical documentation of their actual sex.
This arcane policy has drawn a lawsuit from the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF). TLDEF is representing three transgender people born in New York City who have tried to obtain corrected birth certificates, but have been denied by the Department of Health, even though they have medical documentation that says the "sex designation" on their birth certificates is incorrect and in need of a change.
Noah Lewis, a lawyer with TLDEF, noted that the vast majority of transgender people have not undergone the genital surgery required under New York City's policies. In some cases, there are medical issues that prevent a transgender person from having the surgery. In other cases, the financial burden of accessing the surgery can be too high, especially since most insurance companies don't cover the procedure.
Yet New York City's current policy turns a blind eye toward these concerns, ignoring the fact that there are other considerations beyond genitalia that determine sex -- including, as TLDEF's formal legal complaint notes, the sex of the brain or one's self-identified sex. This policy actually places New York as an unfortunate outlier as well, given that most states will accept a letter from a doctor certifying a sex change as sufficient documentation to change vital records like birth certificates.
It's time for New York City to stop following a 40-year-old law that is no longer relevant, and only serves to foster discrimination, harassment, and humiliation. Let the New York City Department of Health know that transgender people should have the right to correct their birth certificates without a forced requirement of genital surgery.
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