‘Alarming attack’: Texas slammed for removing option for trans people to change birth certificates
In 2023, human rights group teamed up to complain to the UN about Texas’s anti-LGBTQ+ bills. (Getty)
Texas’s Department of State Health Services is facing harsh criticism after it quietly removed the option for trans people to amend their birth certificate.
Advocacy group Trans Texas revealed that transgender Texans have been unable to amend their birth certificate to reflect their affirmed gender identity since Friday (30 August), following changes to the state’s VS-170 form.
The organisation highlighted that the option to correct people’s sex after gender-affirming treatment had been removed and is only available to individuals who wish to make a change “due to proven incompletion or inaccuracy” of forms or records at the time of birth.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) had already updated a policy meaning it will no longer fulfil requests to update gender markers on state driver’s licences or IDs. This applies even if people provide a certified court order or an amended birth certificate verifying the change, The Texas Tribune reported.
The moves are “yet another alarming attack on our privacy, safety and dignity”, said Ash Hall, Texas policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the American Civil Liberties Union.
“The Department of Public Safety has a responsibility, as stated in its own name, to keep all Texans safe,” Hall continued. “This policy does the opposite. Not having accurate driver’s licences jeopardises trans people’s health and safety by potentially outing us and exposing us to discrimination, harassment and violence.
“State agencies can’t ignore court orders, nor is [the] DPS allowed to collect or share people’s personal information for political aims.
“Trans people deserve to live free from persecution in Texas and everywhere else.”
If you are denied an amended birth certificate, you can email [email protected] for help and advice.
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