Washington introduces third floor in documents
Washington State will allow residents to change their gender in their birth certificates to an "X".
“Social norms are changing,” said ABC News State Registrar and Director of the Center for Health Statistics Christy Space. “When a person’s gender designation on their birth certificate does not match how they feel about themselves, it contributes to harassment and intimidation.”
The innovation takes effect on January 27. According to the new rules for the change of sex in the birth certificate, adult applicants do not need to provide a medical certificate from the attending physician.
As for minors who want to change their gender in a birth certificate, they still need the written consent of their parents or legal guardians, as well as a medical certificate from the attending physician. The difference is that the list of health workers who can approve changes for minors has expanded, with assistant doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and mental health counselors added to it.
People interested in changing their classification by gender should fill out an application, notarize it and send it to the health department.
For the past 10 years, Washington state residents have been able to change their gender designation on their birth certificate to female or male. The decision to include a third option, “X,” was driven by changing social norms.
The Department of Health launched the process in August, followed by a public hearing in December. “There were people on both sides, but the majority supported the changes,” Space said.
Some who opposed this rule said that the birth certificate should reflect only information obtained at birth.
Other participants consider the positive aspects of the new rule to be freedom of expression, as well as destigmatization.
The health department also received about 1000 written comments, Space said. “We took all comments into account when we drafted the language for this rule,” she added.
Washington will be the second state to adopt the third gender designation after Oregon.
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