Puerto Rico allows transgender people to correct gender on birth certificates
Last Monday marked the first day Puerto Rico officially began allowing transgender people to correct the gender marked on their birth certificates. The new law comes after a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo earlier this year.
“The right to identify our own existence lies at the heart of one’s humanity,” she wrote. “And so, we must heed their voices: ’the woman that I am,’ ’the man that I am.'”
Trans activists are overjoyed to
finally have a chance to correct official documents to match their gender.
“It’s a relief to finally have a birth certificate that truly reflects who I am,” said one of the plaintiffs, Daniela Arroyo, in a statement reported by NewNowNext.
However, the fight continues in many US states for trans people’s gender to be officially recognised. The Transgender Law Centre is suing the state of Kansas over its decision to not allow amendments to birth certificates. While Idaho was recently forced to allow trans people to make changes to official documents after a similar lawsuit.
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