(Photo credit: CFJC Today).

By Stephanie Swensrude

Gender marker change

Doctor’s note no longer required for gender marker change in B.C.

Jan 14, 2022 | 1:36 PM

VICTORIA — Transgender, two-spirit and non binary people 12 years and older in B.C. will no longer have to supply a note from a medical professional to change the gender marker on their ID as of Jan. 14, 2022.

“Each person knows their own gender best. We need to hear from people about who they are, and that is all the confirmation, as government, that we need to treat people with respect and dignity,” said Grace Lore, Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity.

Lore says this change builds upon the introduction of the “X” gender marker, introduced in November 2018. The “X” marker is meant for non binary people, whose gender is not male or female.

Adrienne Smith of the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre in Vancouver welcomed this change with open arms.

“There is a golden rule in transgender human rights law that is that trans people are entitled to immediate recognition of our names, our pronouns, and access to gendered spaces,” said Smith.

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They said that the process to have a transgender person’s I.D. match their gender has been a complicated process.

“This change is going to make it easier to display an “M”, an “F”, or an “X” that matches who we really are,” they said.

Kamloops Pride president Ashton O’Brien was excited to hear of this change.

“It’s a huge barrier that’s been removed for the community and for gender diverse folks and our transgender folks,” they said.

O’Brien said this rule means transgender people will no longer have to out themselves to a doctor to change their marker — a doctor they might not even have.

“It kind of gives them a little bit of autonomy,” they said.