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Transgender Americans take on New York
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15642294
Transgender Americans take on New York
By Daniel Nasaw BBC News Magazine, New York
A group of transgender men and women want New York City to make it easier to change the "M" or "F" on their birth certificates. What makes a man or a woman, and why do governments care?
In the annals of unhappy encounters with driving licence authority officials, Patricia Harrington's and Joann Prinzivalli's seem particularly miserable.
Both had been living as women for years, but still carried birth certificates showing the sex they were designated at birth - male.
Ms Harrington, who was hoping to transfer her New York state driving licence to the state of New Jersey, was told to return with a doctor's note.
"It just made me furious," says Ms Harrington.
"I would just like to get a corrected birth certificate that identifies me, so that when I have to show it for identification I don't automatically become some kind of criminal suspect."
( Read more... )
Transgender Americans take on New York
By Daniel Nasaw BBC News Magazine, New York
A group of transgender men and women want New York City to make it easier to change the "M" or "F" on their birth certificates. What makes a man or a woman, and why do governments care?
In the annals of unhappy encounters with driving licence authority officials, Patricia Harrington's and Joann Prinzivalli's seem particularly miserable.
Both had been living as women for years, but still carried birth certificates showing the sex they were designated at birth - male.
Ms Harrington, who was hoping to transfer her New York state driving licence to the state of New Jersey, was told to return with a doctor's note.
"It just made me furious," says Ms Harrington.
"I would just like to get a corrected birth certificate that identifies me, so that when I have to show it for identification I don't automatically become some kind of criminal suspect."
( Read more... )