The mere notion of it seems impossible. How can a woman plausibly be a man without extensive sex-change surgery? Psychologically, that’s how. According to a Nov. 7 article in the New York Times, individuals will be able to alter the sex on their birth certificates, even if they have not had any surgery whatsoever.
New York City’s Board of Health is likely to adopt this new rule, where people born in the city would have the opportunity to change the sex on their birth certificates. This would be done by supplying affidavits from their doctors and mental health professionals explaining why their patients should be considered members of the opposite sex.
It is extremely important that the proposed change be permanent. Applicants would change their given name and show that they have lived in their “adopted gender” for at least two years. After all procedures are complete, they are free.
Arguably, the most amazing aspect about this revolutionary rule is that there would be no explicit medical procedures required.
If this new rule is approved it would propel New York City to the forefront of efforts to redefine gender. This change comes after four years of discussion among numerous health officials and transgender experts nationwide.
The transgender community has long wished for people to recognize that not everyone has the money for a sex-change operation. Other transgender individuals may not even feel the need to undergo surgery, as they are happy just the way they are.
Evidently, the news about sexual self-definition soon to occur in New York City doesn’t make sense to everyone. As always, there are many skeptics. One such skeptic is Dr. Arthur Zitrin, a psychiatrist on the panel of transgender experts concocted by the city. Zitrin said, “If they wanted to change the gender for all the compelling reasons that they’ve given, it should be done perhaps with an asterisk.”
Then, of course, there are those who wholeheartedly support the cause, like Michael Silverman, the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and
Education Fund, who said, “transgender people should not have to rely on affidavits from a health care system that tends to be biased against them.”
This controversy really makes one re-evaluate what it means to be a man or a woman. Is gender solely based on one’s anatomy? Or can a major psychological shift change a person’s identity?
Although some may argue that gender is solely based on one’s anatomy, they are simply incorrect. One’s gender and one’s sex are two completely different concepts, and one must delve deep into the psyche of each individual to fully comprehend this.
This is a momentous moment for all transgendered people in the United States. New York City is making the first leap and we hope other open-minded states will follow suit. After all, the whole reason for this new law is to make people feel true to themselves, to finally feel comfortable in their own skin. What’s so wrong with that?
