January 30, 22

NEWS / Pennsylvania Democrats propose removing gender marker on birth certificates

Pennsylvania Democrats are seeking to remove the gender marker from state-issued birth certificates. The aim of the move is to reportedly “protect individual privacy” and “prevent discrimination”. The initiative is unlikely to become law as the state’s legislature is dominated by Republicans.
On January 13, State Senators Timothy P. Kearney, Amanda M. Cappelletti, Katie J. Muth, and Lindsey M. Williams released a joint memo calling on other state senators to co-sponsor their legislation.
“...there are still tremendous hurdles when it comes to the overall process for individuals to change their name and change their sex, particularly on birth certificates,” the state senators write in the memo. “By removing sex designations entirely, we can remove the barriers of acquiring gender-affirming birth certificates.”
The memo draws a parallel with elimination of race markers on older birth certificates, which “had historically been used as a part of systemic discrimination.” The state senators note that non-binary individuals continue to face discrimination due to not having gender-affirming documentation and concede that while their proposal will not fix the discrimination these individuals face, it will remove at least one obstacle.
The administration of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf previously introduced a “Sex/Gender Designation Statement” on state driver’s license/ID card applications which allows individuals to choose one of three genders to show on their licenses or ID cards: male, female, or non-binary/other.