Washington D.C. - On Tuesday, February 19th, the D.C. Council introduced a new bill that would protect the privacy of transgender men and women who undergo gender transitioning. If passed, The bill would revise the requirements for transgender men and women who apply for new birth certificates that include their proper gender marker after legally changing their names.
Under current D.C. law, transgender men and women who have their names changed are required to publish notices in a newspaper at least once a week for three consecutive weeks. For obvious reasons, this “public” process can not only inadvertently “out” someone who doesn’t want it known about their gender reassignment, but it can be potentially dangerous to the individual due to transphobia and discrimination.
The bill, which is named after Deoni Jones, a transgender woman who was killed last February in D.C., would require a transgender person's original birth certificate to be sealed from public view with the affidavit of a medical professional. The bill also includes a provision that would include transgender men and women who transition without having Gender Reassignment Surgery as well.
Currently there are 23 states, including Guam, who have similar procedures to those outlined in the Council's bill.
© copyright 2013 Tammy-Girl Publishing.
Tammy Reed is a national society & culture columnist who writes about transgender, transsexual, & cross-dressing issues. All articles published in the "Transgender & Transsexual Issues Column" are written by Tammy Reed, and fall under federal copyright laws. Articles cannot be re-printed, re-posted, or re-produced in whole without written consent. Partial re-printing, re-posting, or re-producing with a link back to the original article is permitted. For consent, questions, or comments, please email Tammy Reed at: tampublishing@yahoo.com.
For more information on Tammy Reed, please visit the Official Tammy Reed Website, or visit her Official Tammy Reed facebook Fan Page. For more information on Tammy-Girl Publishing, please visit the Official Tammy-Girl Publishing facebook page.
Don't miss a single article, subscribe to Tammy’s "Transgender & Transsexual Issues Examiner column" now by clicking on the button at the bottom of this page under Tammy's photo.
Comments