If passed, new policy will assign gender based on birth certificate
This week, the Trump administration proposed a policy that would define a person’s gender as what is listed on their birth certificate.
The policy argues for sex being determined by the genitalia present at birth, saying there needs to be a definition that “on a biological basis is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.”
This essentially means a sex of either male or female. This also means more than a million Americans who identify as transgender or non-binary would be in a state of limbo, as members of these groups identify as a gender different than the sex listed on their birth certificate.
Gender identity policies became more relaxed under Obama, and the Trump administration has sought to roll back on this forward progress. This new proposal would be devastating for transgender Americans.
The main problem with this policy is the back-and-forth use of terms sex and gender. The policy wants a standard definition of gender, while later clarifying what sex means.
Sex and gender are not the same thing. Having an explicit definition for what gender is would do nothing about what sex is on a person’s birth certificate.
The “biological basis” of defining a person’s gender also does not apply. A person’s sex is biological, based on their genitalia at birth. Gender is a psychological idea.
For most people, their sex and gender match at birth. The sex of a baby is based on hormones released during pregnancy. Gender is not actually decided in the womb; it is a person’s choice after birth. Usually the gender a person decides on matches their sex, however, this is not always the case. This is why a person can be transgender.
The policy is set to be voted on before the end of the year. Enacting a policy that erases an estimated 1.4 million Americans would continue Trump’s war on trans rights, following his attempt to ban transgender people from the military and removing protections from trans students and inmates passed under Obama’s presidency.
