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New York’s City Council passed a bill Wednesday allowing parents to choose “X” on their newborn babies’ birth certificates.
The bill, passed in a 41-6 vote, also allows any adult living in the city to change his or her gender to “X” on their birth certificate.
“New Yorkers will no longer need a doctor’s note to change their gender on their birth certificates, and will no longer be treated as if their identity was a medical issue,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said, WOWT News reported Wednesday. “Today is a historic day for New York in its role as a worldwide champion for inclusivity and equality,” he added.
Prior to the bill, New Yorkers had to undergo gender confirmation surgery in order to change the designations on their birth certificates.
The bill is “exceptionally critical during this time of danger and uncertainty regarding health care and human rights for transgender Americans at the national level,” said transgender advocate Carrie Davis, chair of the advisory board that headed the birth certificate change.
Puerto Rico, California, Oregon, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., allow residents to change their birth certificates according to their gender identity. Doctors’ notes and gender confirmation surgery are not needed as prerequisites to change gender on official documentation in these states.
The bill will take effect Jan. 1 if Mayor Bill de Blasio signs the measure into laws.
De Blasio’s office did not return The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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