Transgender Texans can no longer update the sex listed on their birth certificates, according to a policy change quietly rolled out on Friday.
Texans who have secured a court order to update the sex listed on their birth certificates can no longer do so at this time, a spokesperson for the Department of State Health Services confirmed to The Texas Newsroom.
Birth certificates can be changed for children due to hospital error or omission.
The policy change comes as conservative states across the country move to make it more difficult for transgender Americans to update their documents with the sex that matches their gender identity. , according to the Movement Advancement Project, an advocacy organization that tracks anti-LGBTQ policies.
There are roughly 93,000 transgender adults living in Texas, according to a by .
The Texas health agency made the change without a public announcement. It went into effect a little more than a week after the Department of Public Safety .
That decision was made after raised questions about the validity of these court orders.
Chris Van Deusen, the spokesperson for the Department of State Health Services, pointed to these same questions to explain the agency鈥檚 birth certificate policy change.
鈥淩ecent public 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,鈥� Van Deusen told The Texas Newsroom in a statement.
A Republican, Paxton has rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people both at the federal and state level.
Before Friday, the state health agency鈥檚 website included information about how to 鈥渃orrect鈥� a child鈥檚 birth certificate using a 鈥渃ertified copy of a court order,鈥� according to an archived version of the webpage. ; the site now only includes instructions for changing the sex listed 鈥渄ue to proven incompletion or inaccuracy.
Johnathan Gooch with Equality Texas, an LGBTQ rights organization, said this change will affect transgender Texans' ability to carry out everyday, necessary tasks like opening a bank account.
"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has bullied state agencies into denying the specific types of updates that transgender Texans need," Gooch added. "Ironically, that means the state鈥檚 top legal officer has instructed state agencies to deny court orders from state judges. So, what should be a simple administrative task has now become a nightmare."
The Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT, posted on social media about the change last weekend. They promised to fight policies like this during the next state legislative session, which kicks off in January.
鈥淥ur transness is not determined by a piece of paper and cannot be taken away by hateful policies,鈥� .
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