Gender-neutral birth certificates could be issued in Ontario by 2018
TORONTO — Gender-neutral birth certificates could be issued in Ontario as early as next year, provided the province can work out bureaucratic hurdles involving other governments.
Ontario’s minister of government and consumer services said Thursday consultations will be held on the matter this summer and the province is working to ensure a gender-neutral birth certificate would be legally recognized in other jurisdictions.
Tracy MacCharles said she’s hopeful Ontario can issue gender-neutral birth certificates by 2018.
MacCharles said she’s asked the ministry to reach out to Joshua M. Ferguson — an Ontario-born filmmaker who applied last week to have a change of sex designation on their birth certificate from male to non-binary — a term used to define someone who doesn’t identify with either gender. The minister said she knows the issue is important to the trans and non-binary community.