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New York to Allow Minors to Update Gender on Documents

New York to Allow Minors to Update Gender on Documents

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New York are allowing queer youth under the age of 16 to change their gender markers on their birth certificates. The new policy does not require a medical note but rather just parent permission to sign off for the change. This announcement came due to a lawsuit regarding  M.H.W, a trans boy fighting for the right to update his certificate.

M.H.W was born in New York but moved to Texas. The difficulty in updating certificates violates his right to free speech and equal protection under the U.S Constitution. Now, people born in New York can get a birth certificate that accurately matches their gender.

Many states offer the outdated policy that, in order to change identification documents, a person must gather a physician’s note stating the patient has undergone sexual reassignment surgery. This has proven to be a barrier because of those who desire to change their gender marker on documents but cannot afford the procedure or simply do not want it. This ideology can be damaging due to the belief that gentiles solely define a person’s gender identity.

The policy change went into effect immediately when announced this Tuesday. 

“This is awesome. Now all my identity paperwork matches, and I can go forward not having to worry about legal documents conflicting with who I am again. I get to just go on being me,” M.H.W stated.

The 2015 Transgender Survey stated that people who did not have identity documents matching their gender presentation were met with verbal and physical harassment and even assault. The majority of states require a physician’s note to change a gender marker. This barrier not only brings challenges updating documents but because of the lack of matching ones, transgender voters may be disenfranchised from voting.

There is still an abundance of work to be done regarding those in the transgender community and how their identity matches up with their documentation. 

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