A new law in New York City has made it easier for transgender and non-binary people to match their birth certificate to their gender identity without needing a signed affidavit from a doctor.
The new law allowing the choice of “X” took effect on Tuesday and also allows parents to choose “X” for newborns.
New York has joined California, Washington, and Oregon in permitting a third category for birth certificates.
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RT reports: New Yorkers can change their gender to “X” by merely attesting that it represents their “true gender identity,” where previously they required a doctor’s note to make the switch legally. Parents can opt for the “X” for their newborns without the sworn statement. Those unlucky enough to be born outside New York will have to wait for restrictions to loosen still further.
Since 2014, New York residents have been able to legally switch genders with only a note from a medical or mental health professional. Previously, they were required to undergo surgery before they were allowed to make the switch.
To all trans and non-binary New Yorkers: We see you, hear you and respect you. Starting in 2019, all New Yorkers will be able to change their gender on their birth certificate to M, F or X — without a doctor’s note. pic.twitter.com/we4TbCVdhJ
— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) December 29, 2018
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office celebrated the milestone earlier this week by tweeting a clip of a non-binary person praising the move as “an essential step toward the breaking down of binary ideological systems created in order to justify and uphold social, political, and economic oppression – systems which result ultimately in the separation of us all…from ourselves and our humanity.”
Others took a dimmer view of the move.
How about pot holes, subways, traffic, rising tolls, taxes, education, port authority, technology AND SO MUCH MORE!!!! You want to focus on some bogus science? What’s an X anyways? X-men? Mutants? Well, that kinda makes sense. Sure. X is cool.
— Dhiman Raja (@dhimanraja) December 30, 2018