The state of New Jersey have added a gender neutral option to all of their birth certificates.
In effect since February 1, parents will now have the option of choosing male, female or neutral/non-binary. New Jersey is now the fourth American state to offer this choice following in the footsteps of California, Oregon and Washington.
The new third option is there to make the process to change gender easier for a child who may identify as trans in the future.
Under a previous law a person could only amend the gender on their birth cert with a doctor’s permission.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed the new legislation known as the Babs Siperstein law last summer, but it only became available to parents last week.
The law is named after Barbra Siperstein, a well-known New Jersey trans rights activist who passed away just days after the law was passed.
According to NBC News Murphy was quoted as saying;
“Today is an important day for New Jersey as we continue to strive toward equality for all of our residents, regardless of sex or gender expression. Allowing vital records to match gender identity is an important step forward that will allow transgender individuals to control the disclosure of their transgender status.”
Many transgender people have found themselves in great difficulty when trying to obtain official ID under their new gender.
If more places offered a gender neutral option on birth certs it could greatly help transgender individuals have the same easy access to documents like passports and driving licenses that most people have.
