New York Allows Gender-Neutral Birth Certificate

Just in time to kick off the new year, an exciting new law is in effect in New York.

Residents can now obtain a birth certificate with the gender marker “X” listed, according to New Now Next. This bill was signed into law last year and went into effect on the first of this year. New Yorkers can now officially change their birth certificate to reflect a non-binary marker.

Our city respects your gender identity and the right to have it affirmed on your birth certificate. Now New Yorkers can change the gender marker on their New York City birth certificates to M, F or X without a doctor’s note. pic.twitter.com/hCjPMJpr8X

— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) January 1, 2019

The law also got rid of an old policy that required gender confirming surgery in order for someone to legally identify as trans. Now, people in New York can change their marker to M or F regardless of genitalia, or simply choose X if they are non-binary.

“Gender is a spectrum for many folks, and it’s not a fixed thing,” said Out NYC council speaker Corey Johnson, the man who introduced the bill, according to New Now Next. “So for New Yorkers who are transgender, who are gender non-conforming, who are non-binary, to have an option to better self-identify on such an important document, their birth certificate, unlocks all sorts of things for them.”