The Texas Senate has initially approved a bill to prevent transgender and nonbinary Texas minors from amending their birth certificate with their gender identity.
Senate Bill 162, introduced by Lubbock-based Republican state senator Charles Perry, would mandate that a person’s birth certificate disclose the sex assigned at birth and place restrictions on when this information can be modified for minors. Very few exceptions are listed in the plan.
“Senate Bill 162 prohibits sex listed on the birth certificate of a minor from being amended unless the change is to correct a clerical error or complete the birth certificate if the sex was not listed at the time of birth or if the child is intersex and the sex is later determined,” Perry said during the Senate meeting.
The Republican-controlled Senate initially approved bill 162 on Tuesday with a vote of 19-11. There was no debate. Before moving on to the House, the bill must receive one more vote from the entire House.
Trans and nonbinary Texas adolescents, according to LGBTQ campaigners, would be unable to amend their birth certificates and, consequently, other government documents, such as those needed for identification for education, travel, and employment, with their gender identity.
“Birth certificates are a foundational document,” Sasha Buchert, a senior attorney with Lambda Legal, testified during the bill’s committee hearing. “And when people have identity documents — especially trans folks — that are inconsistent with who they are, it places them at risk of violence, bullying and even harassment.”
Despite these risks, Ash Hall, a policy and advocacy strategist on LGBTQ rights with ACLU Texas who also testified against the bill at its committee meeting, said that this idea might prevent people from enrolling in school, taking part in extracurricular activities, and applying for a passport.
According to Hall, changing a minor sender on a birth certificate is drawn out and complicated. According to a handbook from the Texas Legal Service Center, there is no distinction in the procedure for minors and adults seeking to modify the gender marker on a Texas document, such as the sex listed on a birth certificate. The guidance advises families to see an attorney for adjustments to a minor sender title.
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To modify the gender designations on Texas papers, a court order is necessary. Local judges have the authority to approve or disapprove changes to gender markers, and they are free to choose what evidence is required to support the change before issuing a court order.
Those who want to modify the gender marker on their identification documents, such as birth certificates or driver sicenses, then produce the court ruling. According to the bill’s proponents, the idea would virtually exclude trans and nonbinary youth from public life.-
“It’s already really difficult for trans people to update their birth certificates, and the vast majority of trans people are forced to live with inaccurate documents [that don’t] reflect who we are in the first place,” Hall told The Texas Tribune. “It’s deeply unnecessary, and it is only meant to harm.”
During the committee searing earlier this month, transgender woman Jacqueline Murphy stated that she could change her birth certificate while still a minor, which made it simpler for her to obtain identification for college enrollment and work.
“The benefits for my peace of mind and physical safety cannot be overstated,” she said. “I expect the aim of this bill is to undermine the legitimacy of trans identity as a whole, particularly among children. … This is a power play aimed at making the lives of transgender children as difficult as possible.”
This measure, according to Hall, contains ambiguous language regarding how to identify an intersex child’ sex. This field would have to be filled out for intersex children “whose sex is later determined,” “according to the proposed legislation for birth certificates. Nevertheless, when that choice is made is not specified in the Act, according to Hall.
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Hall remarked that the inter”ex group Texas’so can choose their gender and not have their bodies operated on as infants. The bill could prevent intersex children from changing gender.
SB 162 sponsors stated the bill is required to “defend present rules that we have to truly protect biological sex,” such as Texas’s high school trans student athlete ban. Senate Bill 15, which would extend similar limits to college, has gotten preliminary approval from the entire chamber and has adequate House backing.
“It’s vitally important to know a person’s sex at birth,” said Jonathan Covey, policy director for the conservative group Texas Values. “It’s particularly important in light of fairness in women’s sports competitions.”
Supporters of SB 162 also support Senate Bill 14, which was the main topic of discussion at the committee hearing when SB 162 was also discussed. SB 14 aims to prevent trans children from receiving transition-related medical treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers. Surgery would also be prohibited, though young people rarely have surgery.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, in charge of the Senate, has SB 14 on his priority list of laws. This week, the entire parliament will debate and vote on this proposal.
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