D.C. Passes Bill: Anatomical Males & Females Can Change Gender on Birth Certificate

On a voice vote on Wednesday, the D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill that will allow anatomical males and females who have undergone “gender transition” to get a new birth certificate listing the gender they choose.

Mayor Vincent Gray, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill, which will then face a 30-day period for congressional review. If Congress does not intervene, the law will go into effect following that review period.

The JaParker Deoni Jones Birth Certificate Equality Amendment Act of 2013 – named for a transgender man who was stabbed to death in 2012 -- amends the Vital Records Act of 1981 and directs that the D.C. Registrar “shall issue a new birth certificate that reflects the new gender designation of an individual born in the District of Columbia.”

The bill requires from a parent, guardian, or legal representative “a statement, signed under penalty of law, by a health-care provider licensed in the District of Columbia who has treated or evaluated the individual stating that the individual has undergone surgical, hormonal, or other medically appropriate treatment for a gender transition.”

The bill also ends the practice of marking birth certificates as “amended,” and states that a new birth certificate will be issued and the original birth certificate “sealed.”

“This is a huge victory,” Lisa Mottet, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Transgender Civil Rights Project, said in a statement issued following the vote.

“D.C. now has the best law on birth certificates in the country,” Mottet said.  CNS