Between the Cracks: A Transsexual Tale

[Matty the Damned]

Consider the plight of Conor Montgomery:

A SYDNEY transsexual has filed a sex discrimination complaint against state and federal governments over a refusal to change his birth certificate to ''male''.

Conor Montgomery, 50, was born a female in Australia but took male hormones, had a double mastectomy and a chest reconstruction 2½ years ago to become a man.

His passport says he is male but the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will not convert his birth certificate because he has not had genital surgery.

(link on motherfuckers!)

This is a curious type mismatch between state and federal law and for the sake of a few pieces of paper, fellows like Conor must exist in some wretched bureaucratic limbo.

For the record Matty the Damned is an acquaintance of Conor Montgomery.

MtD

[tokyodecadence]

Yeah here in the U.S. There's a lot of confusion behind these types of things, and it lies solely with the states' prerogative.


Some states will change the sex on the birth certificate outright, no questions asked.


Some will only give a person an amended certificate, or a card to attach to the certificate that they already have, that states that they have had their sex changed. Why? I have yet to find a logical reason as to why a state will give someone an amendment on their certificate, rather than simply changing the sex, like other states. Clearly it's possible. I don't know, I'm happy with the gender that I was given, so I really have no say either way. There may be a logical reason, I'm just not seeing it.

[Matty the Damned]

Yeah here in the U.S. There's a lot of confusion behind these types of things, and it lies solely with the states' prerogative.


Some states will change the sex on the birth certificate outright, no questions asked.


Some will only give a person an amended certificate, or a card to attach to the certificate that they already have, that states that they have had their sex changed. Why? I have yet to find a logical reason as to why a state will give someone an amendment on their certificate, rather than simply changing the sex, like other states. Clearly it's possible. I don't know, I'm happy with the gender that I was given, so I really have no say either way. There may be a logical reason, I'm just not seeing it.

Part of the problem is our obsession with a binary concept of gender. It's hard for cisgendered folks to appreciate that there might be more than just male and female.

Just ask Norrie.

MtD

[tokyodecadence]

Oh I completely agree. That, and the fact that "gender" is largely a social implication.

[Matty the Damned]

Oh I completely agree. That, and the fact that "gender" is largely a social implication.

Yus, a lot like how race is a social construction.

MtD