Attorney LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leads To New California Law
The law regarding name and gender changes on birth and marriage certificates will go into effect on January 1, 2023.
Excerpt: The transition to a kinder, friendlier world for LGBTQ+ individuals has been rapid over the past decade in many areas, but outmoded relics are still found in places like the law, where things can move slower than the rate of social change. In this context, Amira Hasenbush, an attorney and LGBTQ+ rights activist, saw a problem for her transgender clients. She lives and practices law in California, where it is relatively easy for a transgender person to update their own birth certificate and driver’s license for name and gender — M, F, or X for a driver’s license; female, male, nonbinary, or (-) for a birth certificate. But those aren’t the only government-issued documents where names and gender markers appear. For many transgender people, transition takes places after major life events such as marriage or having children. And, of course, names and gender markers appear on a marriage certificate and a child’s birth certificate.