Legal sex change doesn't require surgery, tribunal says

Genital surgery isn't required for a manto be legally recognized as a woman, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal says.

Undercurrent law, anyone who wants a change in sex designation on his or her birth certificate must firstproduce a certificate signed by two medical practitioners affirming that "transsexual surgery" was carried out.

In adecisionissued on April 11, the human rights tribunal said theOntario government must now drop that requirement.

The government has 180 days to "revise the criteria for changing sex designation on a birth registration, up to the point of undue hardship, so as to remove the discriminatory effect of the current system on transgendered persons," wrote Sheri Price, a vice-chair for the tribunal.

The government is "reviewing the decision," said Ciaran Ganley, a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Government Services. He did not provide any further details.

The tribunal's decision stems from a complainant, referred to as XY,who hadthe testes removed inFebruary 2008.The complainantsuccessfully applied to have thegender designation onthe birth certificate changed, despite still having a penis.

The province approvedthe complainant'sapplication to officially make "female" the sex designation, becausethe two doctorswho had signed thecertificate found the procedure sufficiently satisfied the requirement for "transsexual surgery."

Lobby group 'thrilled' with ruling

The fact the government allowed the change ofthesex designation to female despite the factXY wasn't a womananatomically "suggests that the change in sex designation is about changing the birth certificate to accord with something other than mere anatomical sex, namely a broader notion of sex which includes gender identity," Price wrote.

XY was angry that surgery was needed to be legally recognized as a woman, andcontended current laws infringeon theright to equal treatment without discrimination.XY saidthe current practices discriminated against transgender peopleand there are less invasive ways to reflect the change.

Priceconcurred that the current laws resulted in "distinct and disadvantageous treatment" of the complainant.

The Toronto-based Trans Lobby Group said in a statement it was "thrilled" with the ruling.

"Requiring sexual reassignment surgery is differential treatment based upon a personal characteristic, that is, that trans people are treated differently, and face harassment and discrimination when their legal documents do not match how they present in their everyday lives." said Susan Gapka, chair of the Trans Lobby Group.