trans | Nice to see that people can debate things respectfully these days.... (Reply)

Lawmakers Mock Sex Changes During Debate
Measure's Sponsor Says She's Ashamed Of Colleagues

POSTED: 7:40 pm CDT April 17, 2007
UPDATED: 7:45 pm CDT April 17, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Several Illinois lawmakers mocked sex changes and the idea of debating the subject Tuesday before rejecting a measure that would have made it easier to get a new birth certificate after switching genders.

One representative compared sex changes to voodoo and joked that he had thought about getting one so he wouldn't have to shave. Another suggested the House could be debating more important matters.

The man presiding over the debate spoke in a falsetto as he called for a vote, although he ended up supporting the measure. The sponsor said she was "ashamed" of the comments.

"I didn't think it was good-natured at all," said Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago. "I think a lot of my colleagues demonstrated some serious insensitivity to a very complex issue. I thought it was very unprofessional."

The legislation failed 32-78.

It would have made it easier for people to change the gender on their birth certificate after undergoing a sex change in another country. Illinois law already allows birth certificates to be changed if the patient produces an affidavit from the doctor who performed the procedure. But affidavits from foreign doctors are not recognized, Feigenholtz said.

Her bill would have allowed U.S. doctors to examine patients and sign an affidavit saying they'd undergone a permanent sex change, whether through surgery or hormone treatments. She said some people cannot undergo surgery but can have their gender permanently changed through other treatments.

Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, said he objects to recognizing non-surgical sex changes.

"Maybe you went somewhere and a voodoo doctor said you were now a man, where you had been a woman," Black said.

"I've often thought that perhaps I was a female trapped in a male body. I know -- it scares me, too," he said to hoots from his colleagues. "I wish I didn't have to shave every day. ... I'd like to smell better. I'd like to have softer skin."

Black did not return a message left at his legislative office.

The legislation came up shortly after a debate about neutering deer to control their population. Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, joked that the state might start issuing sex-change documents to deer.

He complained about spending time on the issue when bigger problems, such as electricity prices, remain unresolved.

"How do you possibly -- possibly -- bring this forward when there's so much this body needs to be considering?" Rose asked Feigenholtz.

Rose said afterward that he wasn't trying to belittle people who undergo sex changes.

Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago, was presiding over the chamber during the debate and switched to a falsetto voice to ask, "Have all voted who wish?" Turner voted for the measure and said he didn't mean to offend anyone.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois helped draft the legislation.

"For it to be demeaned by public officials doesn't speak very well of the public officials," spokesman Ed Yohnka said.