Trudy Ring at the Advocate wrote a great article about the three transgender individuals who will receive new birth certificates reflecting their correct gender following an order by the Cook County Circuit Court judge. The Illinois Department of Public Health's Division of Vital Records had previously required genital surgery in order to receive accurate birth certificates for transgender individuals. This fall, a new rule will be considered by a legislative committee that would not require genital surgery in order to correct the gender marker on birth certificates for all transgender Illinoisans:
“We are pleased for our clients,” said John Knight, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Project at the ACLU of Illinois, in a press release. “Their new birth certificates will reflect who they are today, and avoid any potential embarrassment, harassment or possible harm.”
“At the same time,” he added, “there has been no change in the rule as yet — and even the proposed rule includes no clear assurance that the state will not continue to require transgender individuals to undergo unnecessary surgeries. The court’s ruling granting birth certificates applies only to our three clients,” added Knight. “We continue to believe that there must be a written agreement or court order — enforceable by law — preventing the state from continuing to require genital surgery before transgender individuals can obtain an accurate birth certificate. The state has given our clients assurance before that they would address this unconstitutional practice, only to return to it after some time passes. It is essential that we have an enforceable agreement to prevent that from happening again.”