Mom of transgender child wants ID rules changed <http://www.cbc.ca/> Description: CBCCBC 9 hours ago
The mother of a transgender child wants the Saskatchewan government to
remove any record of a person's sex on birth certificates.
Fran Forsberg has filed a complaint to Saskatchewan's Human Rights
Commission on behalf of her six-year-old child, Renn, after the province's
Vital Statistics Agency refused to change Renn's sex designation from "Male"
to "Female" on the youngster's birth records.
Renn was born with male genitalia but has identified as a girl since she was
three years old. According to the Canadian Pediatric Society, children
establish their gender identity between 18 to 30 months. When Forsberg
sought to change Renn's birth record, she submitted reports from a physician
and psychologist confirming that Renn identifies as a female. The Vital
Statistics Agency, however, was not moved.
In Saskatchewan, Forsberg learned, a resident can only change the sex
designation on a birth certificate after undergoing sex reassignment
surgery, a requirement that is considered discriminatory in the province of
Ontario.
"We used to have have race on our birth certificates. Also: what your father
did for a living. It's irrelevant." Forsberg told CBC News. "What I would
like to see is for gender to be removed completely from birth certificates."
The Forsberg family first realized that Renn, six, didn't feel like a boy
inside when she started self-harming about three years ago. Renn would bang
her head against the wall unless she was allowed to wear girls' clothing and
be called a girl.
Today, her older sister, Krista, 11, likes to help Renn pick her outfits,
ranging from black sequin halter dresses to pink frilly gowns. Renn is also
allowed to use the girl's bathroom at her elementary school.
"We think people should accept other people for who they are, and not judge
them for who they're not," Krista said.
The Forsbergs decided to go public with their campaign, arguing that staying
quiet only adds to stigma and discrimination.
"I want people to understand that my kids do not have an issue with their
gender or their gender expression," Forsberg said. "It is society's issue."
Forsberg said that when the gender marker M or F on a birth certificate,
driver's license, or passport doesn't match one's physical presentation, it
triggers confusion and discrimination.
The Ontario government changed its legislation after the province's Human
Rights Tribunal ruled that it's discriminatory to require transgender people
to undergo surgery before changing the sex designation on their birth
certificates in a decision in 2012.
While the change was celebrated as the first legislation of its kind in
Canada, many are not satisfied because it doesn't apply to children under 18
and a person must still present a doctor's note that verifies their gender
identity.
The B.C. government is now poised to pass similar legislation respecting its
records, after pressure from Harriette Cunningham, 10, who was born a boy
but identifies as a girl.
The proposed B.C. legislation falls short of Cunningham's request that
gender markers be removed entirely from government-issued ID.
While birth certificates fall under provincial jurisdiction, they're
required for passports issued by federal government.
Barbara Findlay, a lawyer from Vancouver, has launched a legal challenge to
have M and F removed from passports. She reasons that compared to
photographs and other biometric security features, a gender marker adds
little information.
"If you're going to use a document for identification purposes, and it has
photograph on it, a gender marker adds nothing," Findlay said. Since 2011,
Australia has allowed citizens to mark an "X" for gender on their passport,
rather than "M" or "F." New Zealand followed suit. And in 2013, a new law in
Germany allows parents of intersex infants to leave their gender unstated,
or "blank", on birth certificates.
At the Forsberg home, Renn's siblings, Tana and Krista say they've been
taught to stand up for themselves and be proud of who they are.
Renn's big brother, Tana, 9, isn't transgender but likes to experiment with
girl's clothing. He wears costumes and wigs to church and once entered a
drag queen competition. He has also posed as a girl on posters and
billboards for the "Pink Revolution" campaign, which is intended to educate
people about different gender presentations.
Tana said he has learned to defend himself at school.
"Somebody walked up to me and said, 'Are you a girl or a gay boy?' I said,
'Does it really matter?'" he told CBC News.
Their mother says it is important to foster a healthy self-esteem in her
children.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, an estimated 20 to 30 per
cent of transgender youth have attempted suicide.
Forsberg said filing the human rights complaint is part of making systematic
change.
"I don't want my kids to think that they have something to hide or that they
have something to be ashamed about, because they don't," she said. "And
people who are unkind to children like this, they're the ones who should be
ashamed and hiding."
What do you think? Should gender be removed from birth certificates? Join
the Saskatoon Morning live chat right now.
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