M, F Or X? NYC Birth Certificates May Get 3rd Gender Category

NEW YORK, NY — New Yorkers who don't identify as male or female may soon be able to reflect that on their birth certificates. City officials want to add a third gender category of "X" to city birth certificates to make them more inclusive.

"This proposal will allow transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and make our City fairer," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

New York City would join the states of Oregon, California and Washington in allowing a non-binary gender category on official documents if the proposal is ultimately approved.

The city became the first in the nation to put an "intersex" option on birth certificates in 2016. The "X" designation would replace "intersex" if the Department of Health's new proposal passes.

The proposal would also make it easier for New Yorkers to change their birth certificates to match their gender identity. Current rules require an affidavit from a person's health care provider change their gender marker, but the new proposal would allow the person to submit their own affidavit.

The city in 2014 eliminated more onerous requirements that people seeking to change their birth certificates prove they had changed their name and undergone sex reassignment surgery.

The proposal would get a hearing in July and a September vote if the city Board of Health agrees to consider it at its Tuesday meeting. The City Council plans to take up legislation matching the proposal this month, which happens to be LGBT Pride Month.

"Now more than ever, it's important for us as elected officials to show our constituents that we see them, we have their backs, and we respect them for who they are," Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the first openly gay man to lead the body, said in a statement.

(Lead image: Rainbow balloons are seen during the 2017 Gay Pride march in New York City. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)