US: California Assembly votes to revamp birth certificates for same-sex parents
California’s State Assembly has passed a bill which will revamp birth certificates, allowing them to reflect same-sex parents as well as straight ones.
The bill, which is sponsored by Equality California, today passed the assembly by a 51-13 vote.
Californian birth certificates currently only contain fields for one mother and one father, forcing same-sex couples to inaccurately label themselves.
However, the revamped form will be more open-ended, allowing parents to choose to identify as mother, father, or parent.
The bill, AB1951, still has to pass through the state senate, but notably no Republican spoke in opposition in the Assembly, and several voted in favour.
It was carried by Democrat Jimmy Gomez, of Los Angeles.
The bill states: “Under existing law, a certificate of live birth is required to contain, among other things, the full name, birthplace, and date of birth of both the father and mother of a child.
“This bill would instead require the State Registrar, with regard to identification of the parents, to modify the certificate of live birth to contain 2 lines that both read ‘Name of Parent’ and contain, next to each parent’s name, 3 check boxes with the options of mother, father, and parent to describe the parent’s relationship to the child.”
If passed by the senate, the changes will come into effect on January 1, 2016.
