NEW YORK — A law that was passed last year that allows New York City residents to obtain amended birth certificates, including with an “X” for their gender, has officially gone into effect.
According to reports, the legislation had been proposed in June, or “Pride Month,” being announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
“This proposal will allow transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and make our city fairer,” de Blasio said, according to Gothamist.
Residents only need to submit a notarized affidavit to the Department of Health affirming that the requested change will reflect their gender identity, and will no longer be required to provide any documentation from a physician or therapist. See the document here.
deBlasio signed the legislation in October, similarly opining that the measure allows residents to “live [their] truth” and “tell the government who they are and not the other way around.”
On Saturday, DeBlasio’s office posted a tweet to remind New Yorkers that the law would be going into effect with the first of the year.
“To all trans and non-binary New Yorkers: We see you, hear you and respect you. Starting in 2019, all New Yorkers will be able to change their gender on their birth certificate to M, F or X—without a doctor’s note,” it wrote.
Accompanying the tweet was a speech from actress Asia Kate Dillon of the Showtime television series “Billions,” who identifies as “non-binary,” or neither male or female.
“The ability to change that mark, to change that F to an X as a way of eschewing the binary systems of male and female, and man and woman, is an essential step towards the breaking down of binary ideological systems, created in order to justify and uphold social, political and economic oppression,” she claimed.
The New York City Department of Health likewise fanfared the birth certificate law on social media, stating that the move would make “birth certificates more inclusive of all gender identities.” It also issued a press release surrounding the enactment of the legislation, which included comments from city and state officials and other supportive entities.
“New Yorkers deserve a birth certificate that reflects and affirms their lived reality,” Chirlane McCray, wife of Mayor de Blasio, remarked in the release. “No one should have to claim a false identity because the government refuses to acknowledge gender fluidity.”
According to the Department of Health, more than 1,000 birth certificates have been amended since 2014, a significant increase from previous years, as only 20 requests per year had been submitted from 2009-2013.
As previously reported, the Bible teaches that all men are born with the Adamic sin nature and are “by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), having various inherent inclinations that are contrary to the law of God and being utterly incapable of changing themselves. It is why Jesus outlined in John 3:5-7 that men must be regenerated by the second birth, or they cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus saith unto him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ‘Ye must be born again.’”
“Bitter experience teaches that the imprisoning net clings too tightly to be stripped from our limbs by our own efforts. Nay rather, the net and the captive are one, and he who tries to cast off the oppression which hinders him from following that which is good is trying to cast off himself,” also wrote the late preacher and Bible commentator Alexander Maclaren.
“But to men writhing in the grip of a sinful past, or paralyzed beyond writhing and indifferent, because [they are] hopeless, or because they have come to like their captivity, comes one whose name is ‘The Breaker,’ whose mission it is to proclaim liberty to the captives, and whose hand laid on the cords that bind a soul, causes them to drop harmless from the limbs and sets the bondsman free.”
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