COLORADO – A bill to allow transgender Coloradans to receive new birth certificates now heads to the desk of Governor Jared Polis for consideration to be signed into state law.
“This is literally just helping people be safe and live the life that they choose to live in Colorado, it’s about being free to be who you are and your private information staying private,” said Representative Daneya Esgar (Pueblo-D) who sponsored the legislation for the third year in a row.
As the law stands right now, a transgender person would need a court order to obtain an amended birth certificate to reflect a change in gender designation. From that point, they can seek a change for their driver’s license or other identity documents.
“If you hand someone a birth certificate and it’s marked amended, they want to know what’s wrong with it, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” said Esgar.
Under bill HR19-1039, an applicant would receive a new certificate based on a written request to the state registrar which confirms the sex designation on the current birth certificate does not align with their gender identity.
For any applicants under the age of 18, a request must be provided by parents, guardian or legal representative. Also, the state registrar must receive “a statement from a professional medical or mental health care provider that either the person has undergone treatment for gender transition or the person has an intersex condition, and that in the provider’s professional opinion, the person’s gender designation should be changed accordingly. The state registrar may contact the health care provider to verify the statement.”
If someone was born in another state or country they would be allowed to request a Colorado court decree to amend a birth certificate from their place of birth.
