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Title: Exclusive: Transgender people sue NYC over surgery requirement
Source:
raw story
URL Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/ ... -nyc-over-surgery-requirement/
Published: Mar 25, 2011
Author: David Edwards
Post Date: 2011-03-25 10:54:47 by abraxas
Keywords: None
Views: 165
Comments: 15
Exclusive: Transgender people sue NYC over surgery requirement By David Edwards Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 -- 8:57 am Several transgender New Yorkers say the city is making it too difficult to obtain identification that reflects their new genders. Three transgender people announced Tuesday that they had filed suit against City of New York and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. They object to the city's "arbitrary" requirement that they undergo extensive surgical procedures before agreeing to change the gender designation on their birth certificates. Sam Berkley, a transgender man, and Joann Prinzivallia and Patricia Harrington, both transgender women, were named as plaintiffs in the suit. Berkley had undergone hormone therapy and surgery but the city still refused to change his gender designation from female to male because he had not had the specific surgery they require. "I've known since I was 5 years old that I'm male," he said in a press release. "I've undergone medical treatment as part of my transition and the medical documentation I submitted from my doctor should be sufficient to get my birth certificate corrected. Until it's corrected, I fear that I'll be subjected to harassment and discrimination whenever I need to present my birth certificate." Prinzivalli, the second plaintiff, said she would like to have the surgery the city requires but her doctors had ruled it out for medical reasons. "This policy is unfair to me and to other transgender people who just want ID that matches who we are," she said. "What the plaintiffs are asking here is just that the New York City vital statistics people update and modernize their birth certificate policies," Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the Nation Center for Transgender Equality, told Raw Story Tuesday. "It's not a political thing at all." She continued: "Most trans people can't financially afford to have the kind of surgery that's required, but also a lot of people have a medical contraindication... so the standard that we promote is the standard of having a physician say that based on their medical experience and knowledge, that this person is a male or female. Another standard that other jurisdictions are using is the standard of a court order. So, more and more judges around the country have procedures for getting appropriate medical input so they can issue a court order ordering vital identification documents -- like birth certificates and driver's licenses." Right now, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will accept neither the finding of a physician nor a court order as sufficient documentation for changing gender designation. "A birth certificate is a fundamental form of identification," Noah Lewis, a staff attorney for Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said. "By refusing to give transgender people accurate birth certificates that reflect who they are, the city subjects transgender people to harassment and discrimination in areas like employment where ID is essential to proving eligibility to work." "Proper ID is essential for full participation in society," he added. "As long as the City discriminates against transgender people by denying them accurate ID, transgender people will continue to be pushed to the margins of society." Lewis told Raw Story that a successful lawsuit would mean that transgender people "can fully participate in society just like everyone else." "The vast majority of transgender people do not undergo surgery," he said. "Eighty percent of transgender women and 95 percent of transgender men do not have the surgery that the health department requires before the'll change their birth certificate. So, the vast majority of transgender New Yorkers don't have accurate birth certificates." Lewis told the story of one transgender woman in California who tried to change the gender designation on her birth certificate only to have her life threatened by the health department clerk. "That's the kind of fear that transgender people have to face when they have documents that don't match who they are." Photo credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
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#1. To: abraxas (#0)
Why can't we admit that this is a mental illness? In this case, this poor woman has been suffering from a mental disorder from a young age.
Why do they all have to be so ugly?
They have given us into the hand of new unhappy lords. Lords without anger and honor, who dare not carry their swords. They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes; They look at our labor and laughter as a tired man looks at flies. - G.K. Chesterton
One word.... Abomination.
lol. Sam, the woman who wants to be a man, i assume shes the one in the middle. She actually already looks like a man. The other two guys look like goons wearing wigs & makeup.LoL!!
"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13 I think all dickectomy people should be placed on the 2012 presidential ballot immediately. This nation needs a neuterling to run the ship, if for no other reason than diversity and fairness.
"Mental Hygiene"? um.... WTF? lol Just posting on this thread makes me feel uncomfortable. I don't want to look at the pictures again. Make it stop!
lol; they couldnt be any worse than romney newt & palin, i actually saw a table full of these creatures at a restaurant in LA a while back. 6 people. in dresses, makeup, with large wrists & adams apples.complete freakshow. horrific tortured souls.
"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13 I like the one on the left with the long hair. It...he...she...I think I'm in love!
They have given us into the hand of new unhappy lords. Lords without anger and honor, who dare not carry their swords. They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes; They look at our labor and laughter as a tired man looks at flies. - G.K. Chesterton
ok. look it up on facebook, im sure it would make for some interesting columns. ;-/
"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13 Can I get NY State to officially declare me a Mashantucket Pequot?
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
um.... WTF? I saw that too. Wasn't that a Soviet program? How can I secure a contract as a supplier of sponges and/or electrodes and/or sensitivity training sessions?
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
Why would you want to give your peckeraway?
? I just want those casino royalties. It's unfair that reality stands in the way of my goals.
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
lol....I do believe you could get that through if you push hard on the diversity necessity.
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
Them Pequots do all kinda look alike, come to think of it...
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
"I've known since I was 5 years old that I'm male," he said in a press release.
#2. To: abraxas (#0)
#3. To: abraxas (#0)
No Planes. Think about it. ................. Guaranteed Penetration (no it's not porn)
#4. To: wudidiz, abraxas (#3)
Abomination.
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
#5. To: Artisan (#4)
#6. To: Artisan (#4)
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
No Planes. Think about it. ................. Guaranteed Penetration (no it's not porn)
#7. To: Jethro Tull, wudidiz (#5)
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
#8. To: Artisan (#7)
#9. To: Turtle (#8)
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
#10. To: abraxas (#0)
#11. To: wudidiz (#6)
"Mental Hygiene"?
#12. To: Dakmar (#10)
#13. To: Original_Intent (#12)
#14. To: Dakmar (#10)
Can I get NY State to officially declare me a Mashantucket Pequot?
#15. To: abraxas (#14)
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