Connecticut Lawmakers Pass Bill Making It Easier For Transgender People To Change Birth Certificates
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYorkAP) -- The Connecticut Legislature is sending a bill to Gov. Dannel Malloy that would make it easier for transgender people to update their names and gender on their birth certificates.
On Monday, the Senate voted 32-3 in favor of the bill that would allow any person who has undergone surgical, hormonal or other clinically appropriate treatment for gender transition to change their sex on their birth certificate, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported. Regulations currently only allow people to change the designation after completing gender-reassignment surgery.
Stephen Glassman, executive director of ACLU of Connecticut, said the legislation "modernizes our outdated laws and makes Connecticut a national leader once again in an evolving understanding of transgender rights."
Glassman said attitudes about transgender people are changing.
"I think the very public transition of Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner), that everyone in the country's now aware of, has really personalized this," he told Adams.
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Advocates say the course of care for transgender people does not always involve surgery.
Transgender people say they sometimes face discrimination when their birth certificates do not match their appearance.
The bill previously passed the House.
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