Birth certificate rules eased for transgender Nova Scotians
Posted Apr 8, 2015 02:35:12 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotians would be allowed to display on their birth certificate the gender they identify with, regardless of whether they had sex reassignment surgery, under legislation introduced today.
The provincial government says amendments to the Vital Statistics Act are intended to further protect the province’s transgender population from harassment and discrimination.
The government says they are also designed to eliminate the stress of carrying documents that don’t match a person’s identified gender.
Jessica Durling — a trans woman who presented a petition to the government asking for this change — says she’ll definitely be getting the M on her birth certificate changed to an F.
“I can buy alcohol without fear of … them questioning my ID,” Durling told News 95.7.
More than 600 Nova Scotians signed a petition in the fall calling for the amendment.
Applicants who want to change the sex designation on their birth certificate must present a self-declaration, a letter of support from a professional and parental consent if they are under 16 in order to do so.
