NM rolls out new form for sex designation
Law allows transgender people to change birth certificates
SANTA FE — For Mattee Jim, the long wait was worth it.
Jim, an Albuquerque resident who is originally from Gallup, joined several other transgender individuals Tuesday as the first New Mexicans to take advantage of a new law aimed at making it easier to change the sex designation on birth certificates.
“It makes me feel complete,” Jim told the Journal while awaiting her revised birth certificate —with a female gender designation — to be issued.
The new law, passed during this year’s 60-day legislative session, made New Mexico the fifth state to allow for a gender-neutral sex designation on birth certificates. Those selecting the option can mark their gender as “X,” which signifies a gender other than male or female.
In addition, the law permits individuals to change the gender listed on their birth certificates by presenting a sworn statement affirming their gender identify. Previously, such a change required proof of sex-change surgery for a revised birth certificate to be issued.
Luna Burd, also of Albuquerque, said Tuesday that she has undergone surgery and would have been eligible to revise her
birth certificate under the old law.
But some transgender individuals don’t want to have surgery for different reasons, she said, and the new law makes it easier and less costly for all transgender people to change their birth certificates.
“I’m not a different person than I was before surgery,” Burd said.
Technically, the new law took effect in June after being signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. But it took the Department of Health several months to craft rules to implement the law change, and Tuesday was the first day the revised birth certificate forms were made available by the agency.
Meanwhile, approval of the new law came after several attempts to change state law. In 2017, a bill cleared the Legislature but was pocket-vetoed by then-Gov. Susana Martinez.
However, advocates said Tuesday that might have been for the best, as this year’s bill was actually further-reaching than previous versions.
They also said they plan to push for a similar gender-neutral sex designation to be available on New Mexico’s driver’s licenses.
Sen. Jacob Candelaria, an Albuquerque Democrat who co-sponsored the bill signed into law this year, said recently that allowing people to have accurate birth certificates is particularly helpful if they must provide one for employment, a financial transaction or legal proceeding. Birth certificates are also required to obtain passports and other official documents.
The new law also makes New Mexico more respectful of transgender individuals’ dignity, Candelaria said, adding that it could prevent someone from being “outed” by state records.