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Manitoba to allow non-binary option on birth certificates in response to human rights ruling
The Manitoba government says it has introduced policy changes that will make birth certificates more inclusive in response to a human rights ruling.Manitoba will now include a non-binary option, in addition to male and female, for people applying for change of sex designation on birth certificates. (Meagan Fiddler/CBC)Manitobans will soon have the option to select a…
The Manitoba government says it has introduced policy changes that will make birth certificates more inclusive in response to a human rights ruling.
Manitobans will soon have the option to select a non-binary sex designation on birth certificates.
On Monday afternoon, the Progressive Conservative government said it has introduced policy changes to make birth documents more inclusive, in response to a human rights decision that ruled against the province in late 2019.
In a news release, Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding made the announcement to allow a third non-binary option — in addition to male and female — when applying for a change of sex designation under the Vital Statistics Act.
“In response to a ruling from the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, the Vital Statistics Agency is implementing policy changes to be more inclusive to Manitobans,” Fielding said.
The ruling in November 2019, which stemmed from a 2015 complaint, found the province discriminated against a transgender person when it refused to allow a sex designation that was not male or female on a birth certificate.
In November, an independent human rights adjudicator ruled the Manitoba government had 180 days to allow non-binary people to make sex designations on birth certificates, such as marking an “X” instead of male or female.
In a decision dated Nov. 4, adjudicator Dan Manning ordered the government to pay $50,000 in damages to T.A., a transgender person who identifies as pangender. T.A. filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in 2015.
“I am of the view that the policy of the respondent constitutes systemic direct discrimination,” Manning said at the time.
T.A., who does not identify as either male or female and uses the pronoun they, tried to change the sex designation on their birth certificate in 2012 but Manitoba's Vital Statistics Agency denied that request. A publication ban protects T.A.'s identity.
Some other provinces have already adopted gender-neutral identity documents.
Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador allow people to choose “X” as a gender indicator — or to not display any gender — on birth certificates, drivers' licences and other documents.
The release, issued Monday, said the Manitoba government is also trying to pass legislation to remove the requirement to display sex designation on birth and death certificates.
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