Change of Course On Transgender Identification

The Bloomberg administration is backing off a proposal that would have allowed New Yorkers who consider themselves transgender to apply for new birth certificates even without having had sex-change surgery.

City officials said the proposal had "broader societal implications" than they anticipated, and they are waiting for the federal government to issue regulations on birth certificates next year. The Board of Health did pass a plan to allow transgender people who have had surgery to have their new sex listed on their birth certificate, instead of a blank space being left on it.

While the elimination of the surgical requirement would have been unprecedented, the more limited change makes the city's policy consistent with others around the state and nation, officials said. The city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said the administration wanted to look at the surgical aspect more closely.

The proposal would have permitted people who change their gender identity by means other than surgery, such as by taking hormone treatments, to get birth certificates that reflect their new gender.

While proponents of the move said it would have put New York at the forefront of transgender rights, some criticized the proposal to revise birth certificates as altering the historical record.

Advocates for the broader change criticized the withdrawal of the proposal yesterday. "The board jettisoned months and months of dialogue. It's nonsense," a lawyer for the Transgender Law and Policy Institute, Shannon Miller, said. "It would have led to more accurate identification methods. It's just a shame."

The head of the New York Association of Gender Rights Advocacy, Pauline Park, said the limited policy change "is especially problematic because most people who consider themselves transgender don't seek surgery, and most can't afford it." The association is seeking a meeting with city officials to discuss the change of course.