Chicagoist.com
While change may have come through Chicago Tuesday, a tragic spectacle of how far we still have to go as a society was playing out in Springfield. State Representative Sara Feigenholtz (12th) sponsored HB1732, which would have made it easier for Illinois residents to change the gender listed on their birth certificate. Illinois law currently allows birth certificates to be changed with an affidavit from the doctor who performed the procedure. Affidavits from foreign doctors, however, are not recognized, or by people who have undergone permanent sex reassignment through non-surgical means. HB1732 would have amended the Vital Records Act, providing that “the State Registrar of Vital Records shall establish a new certificate of birth when he or she receives an affidavit by a physician that a person has undergone medical treatment and that by reason of the medical treatment the sex designation on such person’s birth record should be changed.”
Feigenholtz told NBC5 news that some people cannot undergo surgery but can have their gender permanently changed through other treatments. The amendment was defeated 32-78.