Does changing the gender marker on the birth certificate legally change one’s sex?
Although changing the gender marker on one’s birth certificate should put to rest once and for all the question of one’s legal gender, there have been cases, usually involving marriages, where courts have ignored the corrected birth certificate. Specifically, courts in Kansas and Texas considered only the birth-assigned sex when ruling on the determination of a person’s sex for the purpose of deciding on the validity of his or her marriage. These courts ignored the fact that the transgender women in these cases had corrected birth certificates from other (i.e. their home) states. To deal with this problem, some individuals obtain a court order declaring a legal change of gender. (To save time and money, some advocates recommend doing this when petitioning for a court-ordered name change.) The good thing about a court order is that, unlike a birth certificate or other identity document, courts and agencies in other states are supposed to follow it. There is still no guarantee, however,
Related Questions
- I am permanently living in my acquired gender and have official documents showing my new name and gender. Can I get a new birth certificate?
- My child’s birth certificate has the wrong gender, date of birth or other health information listed. How can I correct it?
- Does changing the gender marker on the birth certificate legally change one’s sex?
