Australia to Allow Transgenders to Choose Own Gender on Birth Certificates
State Labor government proposes new law tos elf nominate sex
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Transgender, gender diverse, and intersex Victorians will n longer be required to undergo gender reassignment surgery to change the sex on their birth certificate, under new proposed laws.
If the bill is passed, the state Labor government will introduce a new law to parliament which would permit applicants to self-nominate the sex on their birth certificate.
Applicants are given to option to choose the following:
- Male
- Female
- Gender Diverse
- Non-Binary
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The new law will alter the current one where individuals are required to undergo gender reassignment surgery before changing the sex on their birth certificate.
Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said in a statement:
"The current surgery requirement sends a painful and false message that there is something wrong with being trans, gender diverse or intersex that needs to be 'fixed' - that's why we're removing this cruel and unfair barrier."
The reform also recognizes some trans and gender diverse people choose not to or are unable to, undergo such medical procedures.
Victoria's Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages will also reserve the right to refuse a descriptor that's obscene or offensive.
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Among those eligible to apply to alter the sex on their birth certificate are children, but only with the backing of their parents and a letter from a doctor with a supporting statement.
This is the second time the Andrews government has presented the bill to state parliament.
It was voted down last time.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien argued that the critical question was whether a birth certificate reflected a persons sex at birth or how they identified themselves.
"We don't know if it's going to be exactly the same bill (as last time) or a different bill or slightly different, so we'll see the detail, and then we'll make a reasoned decision," he said.
The Catholic Church's Episcopal Vicar for Life, Father Tony Kerin, Marriage and Family, said the church did not 'approve or appreciate' the reform.
"When it comes to gender, we stick with the science, we count chromosomes," he told ABC radio.
Last year, Tasmania in Australia passed a bill to abolish the use of gender identification on birth certificates in a bid to "protect transgender citizens" from having their birth gender "outed."
