Susie O’Brien: Why LGBTQI+ birth certificate change is none of your business

Transgender, intersex and non-binary gendered people will be able to select their own gender category on their birth certificate if proposed law pass, and it’s about time, writes Susie O’Brien.

Making a gender X category on our birth certifcates will make lives easier, writes Susie O’Brien.

Victorian birth certificates could soon include a range of gender descriptors including indeterminate, intersex, asexual, bigender, gender fluid, non-binary, gender diverse, gender queer, pan-gendered, androgenous and inter-gender.

If a new state government law is passed, children will also win the right to alter the gender on their birth certificate if they have parental support and medical advice saying it’s in their best interest.

The proposed law will pave the way for transgender and non-binary gendered people to select their own gender category on their birth certificate.

At present they can only change their stated sex on their birth certificate if they have undergone invasive and costly gender reassignment surgery.

A man walks on steps covered in rainbow colors for New York City’s Pride Month last month. Picture: Johannes Eisele/AFP)

An all gender rest room sign next to a wooden bathroom door; black icons on white background Gender symbols iStock

Most people will be either male or female, but a new X category will enable people to pick their own term to describe their gender identity.

Things could get interesting. One sex survey from the Queensland University of Technology lists 33 terms people use to describe their gender.

These include neutrosis (non-binary gender that is neutral), gender non-conforming (people who don’t identify with either the male or female gender) and demi-gender (non-binary genders that have a partial connection to one gender.

Don’t panic. The Victoria’s Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages will be able to refuse a descriptor that’s obscene or offensive or isn’t a recognisable sex descriptor.

This approach is consistent with Australian Government gender guidelines which state that people who fall into the X category may “use a variety of terms to self-identify”.

Terms used in some Indigenous communities such as Sistergirl and Brotherboy may also be chosen.

A protester rallies about the North Carolina law which denies rights to those who are gay or transgender earlier this year.

A sign placed outside a unisex restroom in North Carolinain protest of the state’s notorious HB2 bathroom law.

The guidelines suggest that if any of the terms are too long, then the government prefers either “unspecified” or “indeterminate” to be used.

I welcome this move. It’s about time we had more respect for people’s gender identity, and made it easier for their birth certificates to match the way they live their lives.

It’s easy for someone like me who is born a female are happy to live as a woman to say we should just let biology rule.

For a small proportion of others whose gender identity don’t match the way they were born, or who don’t fit neatly into either gender, this process is much more complex.

It’s a situation that remains largely understood, but this step will go a long way into reaffirming the human rights of all people, not just so-called cisgenders like me.

(Cisgender is a term that refers to people whose birth sex matches their gender identity.)

For those of you who see this as social engineering, which is the favourite protest term among right-wing whiners, I’d ask you to think about how you’d feel if you or one of your friends or family members was affected.

MORE: THIS SIMPLE GENDER QUESTION WILL BAFFLE YOU

OPINION BY SUSIE O’BRIEN

WE MUST NEVER DENY THE SICK A DIGNIFIED DEATH

THE BEST SPORTING SLEDGES ARE OFTEN RUDE AND LEWD

Given the high suicide and depression rates among trans and intersex people, I’m sure you would welcome any move that would make their lives easier.

Moves like this don’t impact on most of us at all, but make a big difference to the mental health of those directly involved.

In any case, similar laws are already in place in other states and territories including Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT.

Current outdated birth certificates can be crippling for trans and intersex people looking for work, playing sport or applying for other identity cards.

Some have even been forced to get surgeries they don’t want in order to have more accurate ID documents.

Ultimately, this is a move that treats a marginalised group with fairness and kindness, and respects the different lives people lead.

Nothing more, nothing less.