New Policy Restricts Court-Ordered Changes to Birth Certificates for Transgender Individuals

Transgender Texans can no longer update the sex listed on their birth certificates, following a quiet policy change by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Friday. This marks a significant development as conservative states across the U.S. continue to make it harder for transgender individuals to update vital documents to reflect their gender identity.

Previously, transgender Texans could obtain a court order to amend the sex on their birth certificates. However, a spokesperson for DSHS confirmed that this option is no longer available. Changes to birth certificates are now limited to correcting hospital errors or omissions at birth.

The shift in policy comes amid a broader trend across several conservative states to restrict transgender individuals’ ability to amend documents to align with their gender identity. According to the Movement Advancement Project, Texas joins five other states that ban changes to birth certificates in this manner.

The impact on the transgender community, especially the roughly 93,000 transgender adults living in Texas (according to a 2022 Williams Institute survey), is expected to be profound. Johnathan Gooch, a representative from Equality Texas, criticized the policy, arguing that it denies transgender Texans the ability to perform essential tasks like opening a bank account. He pointed out that Attorney General Ken Paxton has pressured state agencies into rejecting these changes, contradicting state court orders.

The Texas health department quietly removed prior instructions from their website, which previously detailed how to correct a birth certificate with a court order. This follows a similar change by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which recently blocked changes to the sex listed on driver’s licenses unless to correct a clerical error.

Chris Van Deusen, a spokesperson for DSHS, said the agency sought guidance from the Texas Attorney General’s Office on concerns about the validity of court orders used to amend sex on state-issued documents. Paxton has a long history of opposing LGBTQ+ rights at both the state and federal levels.

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups like Equality Texas and the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) have vowed to challenge this policy. TENT took to social media, expressing their commitment to fighting against such discriminatory measures during the next state legislative session, which begins in January.

“Our transness is not determined by a piece of paper and cannot be taken away by hateful policies,” TENT stated on Instagram, promising to continue their advocacy in support of transgender rights across Texas.