Florida Stops Trans People from Changing Birth Certificates
Despite there being no law directing them to, Florida health department officials are categorically denying requests to amend gender markers.
By adopting an opaque approval process that appears largely aimed at rejecting all requests, Florida health department officials have effectively barred transgender individuals in the state from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates.
Since 2018, transgender Floridians have been allowed to amend the gender marker on their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity.
To do so, they had to provide paperwork indicating that they had undergone clinical treatment for gender dysphoria and evidence of a legal name change. That was a change from a prior policy requiring them to undergo gender confirmation surgery before being allowed to amend any vital documents.
Critics say that even individuals who have submitted such paperwork are now being denied — leading them to accuse state officials of deliberately enacting policies that refuse to recognize transgender identity as real or valid.
It’s unclear what criteria are being used to determine whether to approve or reject requests. People — both transgender minors and adults — who have submitted previously acceptable documentation have been rejected, as reported by The 19th, a news outlet that reports on gender-related issues.
But even the explanation for rejections has differed from case to case.
In one case, a denial letter claims that, for trans minors to obtain gender marker changes, they must submit “documentary evidence established prior to the child’s seventh birthday.”
In another case, the health department’s Bureau of Vital Statistics says that trans adults must provide documentation of transgender identity “established prior to the registrant’s 18th birthday — which could prove difficult for those who did not know they were transgender, or did not pursue social or medical transition prior to adulthood.
Still other requests have been rejected because applicants did not submit evidence that the gender marker on their birth certificate “contains a misstatement, error, or omission.” The Bureau of Vital Statistics has claimed that discrepancies between assigned sex at birth and gender identity do not constitute an error in need of correction.
Simone Chriss, an attorney with the Southern Legal Counsel in Florida, and the director of the organization’s transgender rights initiative, told The 19th that she has worked with around 80 clients who have been barred from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates since last August.
None of their appeals, including an administrative hearing overseen by the health department, have been successful.
“Most are just being ignored,” Chriss said of the status of those requests. “I’ve filed many. There’s at least five that I have pending at this moment that the department hasn’t responded to.”
Chriss added, “Despite making, I think, very compelling arguments as to why the department is violating the rights of transgender people born in the state of Florida, they have come back with the same rationale over and over for denying it. Which is…’sex doesn’t change.'”
Only five other states besides Florida do not allow gender markers to be updated on birth certificates: Tennessee, Montana, North Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Many more, especially states with Republican-led legislatures, have threatened to pass similar restrictions.
For transgender people whose personal identity documents contain inconsistent gender markers or do not reflect their outward gender expression, daily or routine activities can become stressful or difficult, as they may face harassment, discrimination, or even physical violence from being “outed” as transgender or nonbinary.
For now, the best option for transgender Floridians is to update all other government-issued documents, including their passports, to reflect their gender identity. Those passports can often be used in place of state identification cards or licenses.
“It’s clear the only avenue or the only route to reversing or striking down this policy is using federal impact litigation, like we have in all the other areas where trans folks’ rights have been eroded in Florida,” Chriss told The 19th. “We are planning to challenge this in federal court as well.”
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