In a historic decision, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT) has ruled that surgical requirements for changing the documented sex on an individual’s birth record are discriminatory towards trans people. Currently, proof of sex reassignment surgery is required to have one’s documented sex changed on birth records under the provincial Vital Statistics Act.
Unless the Ontario government appeals, the OHRT has given the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services 180 days to revise the existing criteria under the Vital Statistics Act. This change will make Ontario the first Canadian jurisdiction to eliminate sex reassignment surgery as a pre-requisite for legal sex change.
To read the media release issued by the Trans Lobby Group, please go to www.translobbygroup.ca.
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decision is available atwww.scribd.com.