The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has changed its birth certificate sex change policy, making court order documents no longer an acceptable form of documentation when seeking to change the sex marker on a birth certificate.
The developments were first reported by KXAN, which found that the DSHS website has removed certified court orders as an acceptable document for Texans seeking to change the sex marker on their birth certificates.
In a statement, a DSHS spokesperson explained the recent change.
“Recent public reports have highlighted concerns about the validity of court orders purporting to amend sex for purposes of state-issued documents. DSHS is seeking assistance from the Office of Attorney General to determine the applicability of these concerns to amendments to vital records,” the DSHS spokesperson told KUT.
Previously, the Texas Vital Statistics website listed three options for documents that could be submitted to “correct” a child’s sex, which included a “certified copy of a court order affecting the information shown on the birth certificate.” That option is now removed and instructions are changed for how to “correct child’s sex due to proven incompletion or inaccuracy.”
To change the gender on a birth certificate in Texas, an individual must petition and obtain a court order.
In Travis County, surgery is not required by Texas law to legally change one’s gender and judges have “discretion to either grant or deny” requests, but what is required is a “narrative statement” from either a doctor or therapist.
A couple of weeks ago it was reported that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will now not allow “transgender Texans” to change their sex on driver’s licenses and state ID cards. The policy will only allow for a gender change on an ID or driver’s license in the case of a clerical error.
At the time, Texas DPS released a similar statement to DSHS, citing the Office of the Attorney General.
“The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has recently raised concerns regarding the validity of court orders being issued that purport to order state agencies — including DPS — to change the sex of individuals in government records, including driver's licenses and birth certificates,” the DPS statement reads.
“Neither DPS nor other government agencies are parties to the proceedings that result in the issuance of these court orders, and the lack of legislative authority and evidentiary standards for the Courts to issue these orders has resulted in the need for a comprehensive legal review by DPS and the OAG.”
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