FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP): The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a request to change a transgender teen’s birth certificate to male from female.
In a 2-1 opinion, the court Monday affirmed a decision by a judge in Allen County, who said there was insufficient evidence that a gender change on the certificate was in the teen’s best interest.
The appeal was filed by the teen’s mother after a name change was the only approved switch. The parents were also in favor of changing the gender marker.
“The totality of the child’s medical history is highly relevant,” Judge L. Mark Bailey said. “But here the parents decided to forego expert testimony or the proffer of any relevant medical records, in favor of their conclusory testimony prompted by their teenager’s relatively recent disclosure.”
But in dissent, Judge Terry Crone said the mother submitted letters from a doctor and a mental health counselor.
“It should go without saying that H.S.’s parents, who have known him since his birth, are infinitely more capable than the trial court of judging what ‘happiness’ means to their child and what is in his long-term best interests with respect to his gender identity,” Crone said.
4 comments
Good call by the court. The parents and the child have serious mental problems. Barring a defect, all you have are XX or XY.
Thank goodness there are still sane judges out there. Anyone can play-pretend they have magically changed gender, and you can of course legally change your name–that is all mutable. But you cannot change facts, and all the surgery and hormone treatment in the world won’t change this mentally ill child’s DNA, and truth on a legal document is really in his medical best interest. Tough garbanzo beans, you P.C. twits.
People are insane. We are made male or female. Look in the mirror if you are confused about which is which. Having an operation and taking hormones does not make you a different gender. Check you DNA. that tells the tail. I think the one judge and the parents need serious mental intervention. The kid is being influence by others that do not have it’s best interest at heart.
Unfortunately disease does not recognize what gender a person wants or believes themselves to be. It only recognizes genetics. If a person is born female they may fall victim to several diseases that a male will not encounter. Also their genetic makeup will in part determine the relative risk of diseases that has a higher incidence in one gender over another. This information is important for a number of medical personnel who may not see the person but only see information on a computer. For instance if a reviewer sees severely high estrogen levels in a ” male ” they may suggest extra tests in an attempt to find an estrogen producing tumor when the person in question is biologically a female. It is also fairly well documented that female and male patients present somewhat different symptoms when having a heart attack. Negating ones genetic makeup could endanger them in the health care environment when rapid decision making is critical for a persons survival. We need to somehow separate the generic history for medical purposes from the phycological needs of the patient so the person can function is society.