{"id":47789,"date":"2024-07-16T16:16:59","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T20:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=47789"},"modified":"2024-07-16T16:17:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T20:17:06","slug":"florida-is-quietly-denying-transgender-residents-updated-birth-certificates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/07\/16\/florida-is-quietly-denying-transgender-residents-updated-birth-certificates\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida is quietly denying transgender residents updated birth certificates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the past year, Florida\u2019s health department has declined to amend gender markers on birth certificates for both transgender<\/a> adults and minors. Although the agency says it is basing denials on pre-existing state statutes, transgender Floridians had previously been able to update their birth certificates for at least a decade. Now, they face an opaque process that seems designed to reject all applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Transgender Floridians have been denied updated birth certificates even when all of their other government-issued identification reflects their current gender identity. When applicants provided paperwork detailing clinical treatment for their gender transition and their legal name change,they were still denied.This is at odds with how the agency has handled this approval process for years \u2014 and is the latest example of Florida\u2019s state agencies enacting anti-LGBTQ+ policies<\/a> even when anti-LGBTQ+ laws fail to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023 and 2024, trans minors and adults who applied for amended birth certificates received denial letters from the state health agency\u2019s Bureau of Vital Statistics. In those letters, reviewed by The 19th, thebureau says the paperwork that has long been accepted to update gender on birth certificates \u2014 like proof of clinical treatment and a legal name change \u2014 no longer works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cSpecifically, the documentary evidence does not establish that the sex identifier on the birth record contains a misstatement, error, or omission,\u201d one denial letter from March 2024 reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The denial letters also offer conflicting requirements. One, from August 2023, states that for trans minors, \u201cdocumentary evidence established prior to the child\u2019s seventh birthday is required.\u201d In another letter, the bureau says that trans adults trying to update their birth certificates must provide documentation \u201cestablished prior to the registrant\u2019s 18th birthday.\u201d Many transgender adults did not know they were trans as children, or did not pursue gender-affirming care as children even if they did realize their identities \u2014 rendering either requirement difficult, if not impossible, to navigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simone Chriss, an attorney with the Southern Legal Counsel in Florida and the director of the organization’s transgender rights initiative, has worked with around 80 clients who she says have all been denied updated birth certificates since last August. None of their appeals, including an administrative hearing overseen by Florida\u2019s health agency, have worked. As a result, none of them have been able to update their birth certificates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost are just being ignored,\u201d Chriss said. \u201cI\u2019ve filed many. There\u2019s at least five that I have pending at this moment that the department hasn\u2019t responded to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Florida Department of Health and its Bureau of Vital Statistics did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican lawmakers in Florida have repeatedly failed to pass legislation that aims to prevent transgender people from being able to obtain accurate birth certificates. This year, a proposed bill to require that state identification<\/a> and licenses reflect Floridian\u2019s sex assigned at birth failed to pass. Last year, a bill that would explicitly prohibit gender markers being changed<\/a> on birth certificates also failed to pass. Despite the lack of legislation, Florida agencies have moved to enforce such restrictions on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles told local officials that the state would no longer allow transgender people to update their driver\u2019s license<\/a> with their correct gender. That move was not prompted by any new law, and was simply based on a new agency policy. LGBTQ<\/a>+ and legal experts believe the rule likely takes Florida out of compliance with federal law<\/a>, which the state disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Florida\u2019s Bureau of Vital Statistics within its health agency has reversed course on birth certificate updates, arguing that discrepancies between sex at birth and gender identity do not constitute a paperwork error in need of fixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updating all of the necessary identity documents is costly. The name change fee in Florida is $400 and fingerprinting for the background check as part of that name change is $50. The requirement of a doctor\u2019s letter for updating the gender marker on a birth certificate means paying out of pocket for a doctor\u2019s visit or at least a copay. Then, there\u2019s the $20 application fee to amend the birth certificate; applicants may also pay more if they opt for rush service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many transgender Floridians, the entire process appears to have ended on a brick wall, with no public notice that a policy change has taken place and no clear path to access accurate documentation. And the new policy appears to be based on a definition of sex that excludes transgender people \u2014 a change from what was put on the books less than a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Florida relaxed its conditions for updating gender markers on birth certificates following pressure from LGBTQ+ and legal advocacy groups<\/a>. Until then, the state had required proof of sex reassignment surgery in order to change the gender marker \u2014 which at least twelve other states still do, according to the Movement Advancement Project<\/a>. After 2018, Florida\u2019s health agency began accepting letters from medical providers documenting clinical treatment for gender transition. This broadened the scope of who could apply for new documentation since some transgender people never pursue surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the country, only five other states<\/a> do not update gender markers on birth certificates. Many transgender people pursue this documentation as they legally change their name or update their gender on their driver\u2019s license or Social Security card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without accurate personal documents that align with their gender expression and other forms of identification, trans people face harassment or discrimination when going about their daily lives, like when applying for a job or enrolling in a new school. The risk of being \u201couted\u201d by an incorrect piece of paperwork can have dangerous consequences for trans people, especially in a state considered dangerous<\/a> for LGBTQ+ people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite 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,\u201d Chriss said. \u201cWhich is \u2026 \u2018sex doesn\u2019t change.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, the best option for trans Floridians seeking an updated birth certificate is to update all of their other government-issued documents to reflect their gender identity, Chriss said. Passports, a primary identification document, can be used in most cases instead of state identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019 rights have been eroded in Florida. We are planning to challenge this in federal court as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past year, Florida\u2019s health department has declined to amend gender markers on birth certificates for both transgender adults and minors. Although the agency says it is basing denials on pre-existing… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"14","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":47790,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image.webp","type":"image\/webp"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[9138],"class_list":["post-47789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-florida-is-quietly-denying-transgender-residents-updated-birth-certificates"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47791,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47789\/revisions\/47791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}