Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Hawaiian transgender community seeks change to birth certificate regulations

A group of transgender advocates in Hawaii is pushing state officials to change a law that requires residents to undergo gender reassignment surgery to change their gender on state-issued identifying documents, including birth certificates. 

"Everybody deserves to be recognized for who they are, and gender identity as an expression is one that clearly rises above the rest," said Democratic state Rep. Chris Lee, who plans to introduce a bill that would update the law. Currently, six states and the District of Columbia do not mandate gender reassignment surgery as a prerequisite for gender changes.