| Action | Amend regulations following periodic review - Change of Sex |
| Stage | Proposed |
| Comment Period | Ended on 10/4/2019 |
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192 comments
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
Transgender people need to have identity documents that accurately reflect their gender, regardless of whether or not they have had gender confirming surgeries. Many transgender people do not want surgery, cannot afford surgery, or heave health issues that won’t allow them to have surgery. Having an accurate gender marker on a birth certificate is oftentimes essential for updating other identity documents and it allows transgender people to live without being ‘outed’ as transgender or discriminated against because of their old gender marker. According to the US Transgender Survey, one in four transgender Virginians faced some level of mistreatment after showing an ID that did not match their gender presentation.
As a Virginian mother of a Transgender teen (who will be old enough to vote soon), I support legislation that enables Transgender persons to more easily change their gender marker on their vital records. At 17 years old, my son has already faced significant issues with getting his drivers license (which REQUIRES he register for selective service, although he is prohibited from registering, this is after jumping through many hoops to get the gender marker changed on his drivers license.) Whether you agree that being transgender is a medical malfunction of gender hormones, or prefer to take a more bigoted approach, you have to agree that a child should not be reduced to terror in your offices, applying for your state identification. Getting a driver's license is a joyous right of passage for most teens. Weren't you excited to get your first license? My son's excitement was overrun by the fear that he would be attacked. Children should not have to fear they they and their families may be beaten by strange adults because your policies force them to be exposed as transgender in public.
He also had significant issues at your public school with records not being corrected. Before moving him to home schooling, he was tested for the commonwealth of Virginia's Gifted Program. I was told he got the highest score. The highest - out of all the gifted students in Virginia. Transgender children like mine are murdered and raped by small minded people. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that "outing" him in public, puts my son's life in danger.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. This regulation would protect Virginians from harassment, and lead to more comfortable, validating lives for individuals throughout the state.
I am a transgender Virginian and I began my transition about 7 years ago. In that time, I have been able to change my gender marker on my U.S. Passport and with the Virginia DMV. Despite being able to change my gender marker on those two important forms of identification, due to the unclear and complicated Virginia guidelines, my gender is not changed on my Virginia birth certificate, which leads to confusion and fear of being outed.
In scenarios in which I need to officially report my gender, I am never sure which gender I should indicate, since my documents conflict. For example, when I updated my voter registration last year, I marked my gender as male, which is the gender I identify as and the gender marked on my passport and license. However, I was extremely worried that because my gender marker was different on my birth certificate, I would be unable to vote. In the days leading up to the election, rather than researching candidates, I was researching whether or not anyone had been in my situation in regards to their gender markers, and if they had been able to vote. Luckily, I was able to vote, but this unnecessary stress could have been alleviated by clarifying and updating the Virginia birth certificate gender change process.
Voter registration is only one of many scenarios in which I have been worried about the incorrect gender marker on my birth certificate. I hope to go into the medical field, and have had a variety of internships, jobs, and volunteer positions which involve working in hospitals, doctor’s offices, or hospice facilities. These sorts of positions all require background checks, and every time I must undergo a background check, I am worried that there will be confusion or I will be outed because of the mismatch between my birth certificate and my other documents. I fear if I am outed, I may be denied the position I am applying for, or that people will ask me invasive questions or treat me differently. I should not have to deal with this fear when applying for jobs or volunteering.
Updating 12 VAC 5-500 will improve life for many Virginians by reducing the fear and stress caused by having a document with an incorrect gender marker. Thank you for supporting updates to 12 VAC 5-550 which will make life easier and safer for me and numerous other Virginians.
I am very supportive of the proposal.
Make things easier for trans people! You shouldn’t even have to prove anything about a medical transition. That said this is literally the very least Virginia can do to provide trans people recognition.
As a Virginian and a clergyperson, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. I have served transgender people as part of my ministry for years, and I have seen what a positive difference it makes when their identity is fully supported by others.
These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment. Thank you for your consideration.
Transgender people need to have identity documents that accurately reflect their gender, regardless of whether or not they have had gender confirming surgeries. Many transgender people do not want surgery, cannot afford surgery, or heave health issues that won’t allow them to have surgery. Having an accurate gender marker on a birth certificate is oftentimes essential for updating other identity documents and it allows transgender people to live without being ‘outed’ as transgender or discriminated against because of their old gender marker.
Limiting our gender markers to those who have had gender confirming surgery is exclusionary and not in agreement with current Virginia law.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
If we truly believe that it is illegal to use a person's gender to discriminate against someone then there should be no reason to prevent someone from changing their gender marker, or - honestly - for legal documents to even have gender markers to begin with.
Many of my friends and family members are adversely affected by the red-tape surrounding gender marker changes.
Please change this so we all can live safer lives.
I support the policy updates to 12 VAC 5-550. The policy updates should include more than the ability to change your gender identity to either male or female without surgery. It should also include the ability to identify yourself as gender neutral / non-binary. I am transgender / gender neutral. I work at the POFF Federal Building in Roanoke, VA. I recently came out as transgender / gender neutral and have requested the director’s office to provide unisex restroom(s) at the POFF building. So this goes way beyond male and female. Let our state be a a progressive state when it comes to transgender rights. We are all human and deserve to identify as we wish … male, female, or other.
As a Black Transgender Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment. I have personally dealt with this discrimination and harassment and as a tax paying, voting citizen I deserve for my gender to be accurately reflected on my birth certificate!
Virginia needs to get on the right side of science, which supports the transgender community. Stop clinging to old-fashioned laws when we as a society have so much more knowledge at our disposal. Our transgender Virginians deserve equal rights and to be able to update their birth certificates easily.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
It is very clear that there are transgender human beings, and there always has been in every culture throughout history. Insisting that a trans person cannot live fully and peaceably within their own gender identity without submitting first to non-medically-essential and very expensive surgical “re-plumbing” is simply ignorant and potentially cruel. For young people, especially, for whom medical advisors and wise counsellors recommend against permanent body modifications, having to live with the “wrong” gender marker on their ID cards and official documents is not only punitive, but dangerous.
Dan Mouer, PhD
Anthropologist
I support the ability of all people to be recognized as the gender or lack of gender they know themselves to be. Even if that identity changes over time. No one drives a car with their genitals
I fully support this measure. This is an imperative step and strongly needed.
I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These updates will remove the outdated language and clarify the process for the process of changing one's gender on legal documents. It is important to make this process as accessible as possible to ensure people are able to live their lives as their true selves without having different pieces of paper telling them they are someone else. This can be a matter of life and death and being able to change one's gender marker for birth certificates will make the lives of transgender individuals easier and lessen the levels of harassment they experience on a daily basis.
This is a good first step towards making trans folks like me feel more welcome and supported within our state.
As a Virginian, I support the updates to 12 VAC 5-550.
I support this initiative. Trans people need this streamlined in order to live their lives as their authentic selves accordingly. They should be able to represent their identity legally to eliminate discrimination in everyday places, where non-trans people don't have to worry about being harassed or bullied.
"As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment."
Since I was born in PA, I can change my birth certificate whenever with ease. But in VA, the current policy presents an obstacle for transgender people to fully integrate. Not every transgender person wants to get surgery, and it's not a requirement to being trans!
I want to start by saying that I am non-binary trans, myself. I use “they/them/their” pronouns, my gender is between the gender spectrum, and I’m currently waiting for Virginia to start allowing us to put “X” gender markers on our IDs and Driver’s Licenses. Binary and non-binary trans people deserve to be legally recognized, respected, and represented in our government— state-wide and federally. Trans women, trans men, and non-binary trans people have existed in every culture on Earth, throughout history. Now, we’ve finally been given a chance to speak up about our experiences. It’s been a long time coming, but we currently have the language to express who we are, and we have access to resources that can help to support us when issues arise, which typically stem from transphobia and a lack of equal rights (workplace discrimination, being unfairly turned away by religious doctors even in emergency rooms, getting evicted from our houses only because we are trans, systemic homelessness, etc). We should be able to easily update our gender markers, to reflect our true identities. Our genders assigned at birth, marked on our birth certificates, were only “assumed” based on our anatomy. No one could’ve told us who we would be, before we knew that ourselves! We now know that physical anatomy doesn’t determine someone’s gender, and gender itself is a spectrum (just like orientation is). Our laws should align with the most recent scientific findings and with reality itself. The WHO, APA, WPATH, the latest DSM, and the overwhelming majority of professionals in the field affirm everything I just explained, above. My hope is that one day, third gender marker options will also be available and easily accessible to all Americans, across the country. This is the next logical step to get to that point, and to continue working toward gaining equal rights for all trans people. This update is important because not all trans people transition in a medical sense, and many of us don’t transition with surgery. Some trans people don’t want to physically transition, and some of us simply can’t due to financial or medical issues. It wouldn’t be fair to require all trans people to show proof of surgery before being allowed to change their gender marker on their birth certificate, because the majority of us transition only by taking hormones, or by only transitioning socially (through changing our pronouns, our name, the way we dress, etc). Many of us can’t afford gender-confirming surgeries, because we don’t have decent health insurance. If we do, health insurance doesn’t cover enough of the cost. Top surgery, which is essentially a mastectomy for an AFAB (assigned female at birth) trans person typically costs around $10,000 without insurance, and even with good health insurance it could be $3,000 or more, out of pocket. Lower/bottom surgery (sometimes called SRS, or sexual reassignment surgery) for trans men and AFAB non-binary trans folks can end up being $100,000+ total, when all is said and done. “Lower” surgery for people with our anatomy is typically more difficult and expensive than it is for AMAB (assigned male at birth) trans individuals, and we usually need at least 3 to 5 separate surgical procedures to get the results we’re looking for. There are many reasons for this— they’re complex surgeries and there are a few different types of lower surgeries that a person can choose from. I hope everyone is able to see that we deserve the right to tell the world who we are, and we deserve to have the government acknowledge our identities. We go through so much our entire lives, just to be ourselves. We wouldn’t go through all of that if it wasn’t absolutely vital!
I support this because my partner is trans and they should be able to have their gender updated on their birth certificate. They’re non-binary trans so it will probably be a few more years before they can do so, but this update is incredibly important for many other trans people, whose genders are binary.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
This amendment would improve the lives of transgender people like myself! Additionally, not relying exclusively on a surgical procedure that many trans people do not have access to, and in many cases, even want, and provides accurate legal documentation, and therefore state recognition, to individuals who otherwise would have been denied it. I whole-heartedly support this change of policy!
The current process for having gender markers changed in VA is too difficult and stressful for transgender people and their families. It should not be left up to a random judge to determine who someone is, when doctors, counselors, parents, and the person themselves already know it to be true. The process should be easier, more accessible, and should not involve crossing fingers and hoping that the judge understands transgender issues.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth
certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately
reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing
discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth
certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately
reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing
discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth
certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately
reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing
discrimination and harassment. over this text and enter your comments here. You are limited to approximately 3000 words.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth
certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately
reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing
discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth
certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately
reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing
discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important
updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth
certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately
reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing
discrimination and harassment.
As a Virginian, I want to state my support for the updates to 12 VAC 5-550. These important updates will remove outdated language and clarify the gender change process for Virginia birth certificates. Every person in Virginia should have access to identity documents that accurately reflect who they are so they can live and work in the Commonwealth without experiencing discrimination and harassment.