NWT first in Canada to allow third gender option on birth certificates
Questions remain about how territorial changes will mesh with federal, international rules
Emelie Peacock
Northern News Services
Friday, August 11, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Lane MacIntosh is now able to have their birth certificate display a sex that is not male or female, after recent changes to the territory's Vital Statistics Act.
Lane MacIntosh displays forms to apply to have the sex on their birth certificate changed to an X, yet they are unsure if this will complicate their ability to apply for a passport or to travel. The NWT is the first jurisdiction in Canada to add a third sex option to birth documents. - Emelie Peacock/NNSL photo |
On July 28, the NWT became the first jurisdiction in Canada to allow a third sex on these documents. Human rights and LGBTQ advocates are applauding the change, yet questions remain about how this will affect identification issued by the federal government.
MacIntosh, who uses pronouns they, them and their, said they have the forms filled out to change their sex to an X, but is waiting to submit them until they get answers to how this will affect their ability to get a passport. Federal documents such as passports still require a male or female designation.
"I'm young, I travel a lot," they said. "I shouldn't have to carry letters from my doctor that compare my IDs, I shouldn't have to validate something that's already validated by the government."
Chelsea Thacker, executive director of the Rainbow Coalition of Yellowknife, said the options right now appear to be either choose not to have a passport or continue to use a male or female designator.
"They might not have a passport, and they may not be able to leave the country if they have the X gender marker on their identification," she said.
Nancy Chan, communications adviser for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the federal department in charge of passports, stated work is ongoing to add a third marker to Canadian passports and other documents issued by the department.
For now, Chan stated individuals have the option to change the sex designation in their passport to male or female, whichever better reflects their gender identity.
She added the passport program has made changes to support identification documents that either don't display a sex, or have a sex designation other than male or female.
How these changes will affect entry into or transit through other countries cannot be guaranteed, Chan stated, as "not all countries have the same values or legal systems as Canada."
Despite the possible complications in getting the feds to conform to the NWT's new rules, Thacker called the third option an important step toward equality.
Previously, if someone wanted to change their designation, they would need to show medical proof that they had undergone gender reassignment surgery, something not all transgender individuals do.
"As we know, for trans people, having access to medical care, feeling comfortable talking to their doctors and actually going through the process and finding an LGBTQ positive medical professional is actually really hard," said Thacker.
MacIntosh took time to remember those in the territory who have faced anger, pain and hurt in order to make this change happen.
"It doesn't fix the big problems," said MacIntosh, citing high suicide rates, difficulty securing employment and continued discrimination for the queer and transgender community.
"At least that one little thing happened today, it keeps us going, it keeps that passion because it's easy to get burnt out, to get angry, to get defeated."
Charles Dent, chair of the NWT Human Rights Commission, said this change may cause some problems yet the hope is that other jurisdictions will catch up with the NWT.
"It may be an issue," he said.
"But what this will do is it will put some pressure on the federal government to consider making the same sort of change. It raises the whole issue up the ladder a bit in terms of awareness."
Josh Bueckert, spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada, stated in an e-mail the department is in the process of including a third option for any sex or gender question included in documents, and making gender designations optional for social insurance documents and other procedures.
Damien Healy, spokesperson at the health department, said since the changes to the act were announced, the department has not received any applications for name or sex designation changes.
