Agency: Sex on birth certificates can’t change
Court orders may not be valid for Texans to amend documents, DSHS says
Texans will face further limitations in attempting to change the sex designated on their birth certificates after a quiet policy change within the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The policy change, which was unceremoniously rolled out Friday through the removal of language on the agency’s website detailing the steps to alter information on a person’s birth certificate, follows a decision by the Texas Department of Public Safety to similarly limit changing the gender designated on a driver’s license.
Previously, a section of the Health Department’s website noted that the gender listed on a birth certificate could be changed through a certified copy of a “court order affecting the information shown on the birth certificate.”
Now, the agency’s website lists only the process for changing a date of birth, place of birth or time of birth, removing information from the section on changing the designated sex on a birth certificate.
“We are still updating information as the changes to the DPS and DSHS policies continue to emerge,” the Transgen
der Education Network of Texas said in a social media post Saturday in response to the policy update. “Right now, we urge you to assess your situation and follow us for updates.”
Confirming the policy change Tuesday, Health Department spokesperson Chris Van Deusen said in a statement that recent reports have “highlighted concerns about the validity of court orders purporting to amend sex for purposes of state-issued documents.”
“DSHS is seeking assistance from the Office of Attorney General to determine the applicability of these concerns to amendments to vital records,” Van Deusen said, confirming that those who have received a court order in hopes of altering the sex designated on their birth certificates are no longer allowed to do so.
The policy change was first reported by KXAN-TV on Saturday.
“DSHS is no longer altering applicants’ sex on birth certificates based on these court orders,” Van Deusen said.
In similar fashion, the Texas DPS changed its website in August to limit the ability of transgender Texans to alter the gender designated on a driver’s license, also citing concerns stemming from Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office over the validity of court orders tied to gender designations.
“Neither DPS nor other government agencies are parties to the proceedings that result in the issuance of these court orders, and the lack of legislative authority and evidentiary standards for the Courts to issue these orders has resulted in the need for a comprehensive legal review by DPS and the OAG,” the DPS media office said in a statement after the change last month. “Therefore, as of Aug. 20, 2024, DPS has stopped accepting these court orders as a basis to change sex identification in department records — including driver licenses.”
Other conservative-led states also have sought to limit clerical changes to a person’s gender on state-issued documents, including restrictions on driver’s license changes in Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, Montana and Florida.
In Oklahoma, a 2021 executive order by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt to prohibit that state’s Health Department from issuing nonbinary or gender-neutral birth certificates, or making those changes to existing documents, has bounced around federal appellate courts over concerns the ban violates the First Amendment.
Last year, Texas state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, authored a bill during the regular legislative session to prohibit changing the gender marked on a birth certificate, which would make alterations to other state documents more difficult. But the bill went unheard in the House after passing along party lines in the Senate.
Paxton’s office has not responded to American-Statesman requests for comment on its concerns about the court orders or the office’s involvement in the recent policy shifts.
Currently, sex designations can be altered on a birth certificate based only on hospital or medical records that show “proven incompletion or inaccuracy” on the document.
Previously, the website listed a court order as satisfactory to initiate a gender change.
Moving forward, the Transgender Education Network of Texas said it will continue to monitor the “rolling changes” and is pushing for those who are affected by the new state policy to document the experience in case of future legal action.
“We know these are unnerving and often frustrating moments, but these details may help us and legal representatives support you and others,” the gender equality organization said.