A bill filed in the Illinois Statehouse this month would make it easier for transgender people to change the sex indicated on their birth certificate. The bill is meant to recognize that a person’s gender may not match their physical sex.
Under the Illinois Vital Records Act, passed in 1962, a person must have undergone a sex change operation before the designated sex on a person’s birth certificate can be changed. Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, sponsored House Bill 6073 to make state law reflect changes at the federal level and to ensure the law acknowledges current medical standards.
If Harris’ proposed changes are enacted, a person would no longer have to undergo surgery to have their birth certificate reflect their identified gender. Instead the person would have to show that they are undergoing treatment or have been evaluated by a licensed medical or mental health professional based on contemporary medical standards. The bill would also change the current language from saying “sex change” to a “sex designation.”
“It was surprising to me that the bill hasn’t been updated since 1962,” Harris said. “I have worked on several health care bills, and the key is that the bill is up to date with current medical standards and use of technology.”
The bill was proposed in the Illinois House on Feb. 11 and has already drawn support and opposition.
Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said in a statement that the ACLU supports the bill.
“Current Illinois law is inconsistent with the standards used by the federal government and a growing number of states that do not require surgery to correct the gender marker on a birth certificate,” Yohnka said. “More importantly, it is extremely harmful for transgender persons who are at risk of injury or discrimination when their status as transgender is revealed to employers and others.”
Before allowing a new birth certificate, the bill requires a licensed health care professional to submit a declaration stating that a person has gone through clinically appropriate treatment, has undergone an evaluation process that is up to date with current medical standards, or has an intersex condition, which occurs when a person is born with reproductive organs that are not typical of one specific sex.
Although the bill would make state law reflect current federal law, the Illinois Family Institute is not convinced that the changes will ensure a patient’s medical needs are fully being met.
“(The bill) seeks to allow gender-dysphoric Illinoisans to change their ‘sex designation’ based only on a declaration from any medical professional, including even mental health professionals, that the patient has undergone ‘treatment,’ rather than surgery,” said Laurie Higgins, cultural analyst at the Illinois Family Institute. “Birth certificates should identify objective, immutable sex, not the sex a person wishes he or she were. HB 6073 seeks to change the language of the Vital Records Act from ‘sex change’ to ‘sex designation,’ which is an implicit acknowledgment that in reality, no one’s sex can change.”
Harris believes that state law should reflect the procedures conducted at the federal level for passport identification and should be based on the standards of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, recognized by the American Medical Association.
“We want to make sure the law is up to date with how science and technology has changed over the years,” Harris said. “We’ve done it with breast cancer and the technology used for mammograms. This is another step in the same direction.”
Contact Brittany Hilderbrand at [email protected].
