Ohio Joins States Allowing Birth Certificate Gender Marker Corrections! | Equitas Health

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Ohio Joins States Allowing Birth Certificate Gender Marker Corrections!

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has officially announced the procedure to allow transgender Ohioans to correct the gender or sex marker on their Ohio birth certificates. This is a result of a December 2020 ruling by a federal judge, which struck down the state’s policy prohibiting an individual from changing this marker on their Ohio birth certificate.

This is a necessary and welcome change made possible by the continued advocacy of the transgender community in partnership with organizations like the ACLU of Ohio, Equality Ohio, Equitas Health, Lambda Legal, OCTOPUS LLC, TransOhio, and many other valuable community partners.

In the words of Oliver Licking, who facilitates our monthly Name & Gender Marker Change Legal Clinics:

“At last, we have a means to help folks see themselves reflected in every document. The dignity this change in Ohio offers cannot be understated. Equitas Health cannot wait to keep on helping folks get birth certificates, or any other identity document, to accurately reflect them.”

Ready to get started? You may find these resources helpful:

While we are thrilled to have this win to celebrate, we know that the work continues. For more information about how the policy change impacts Ohio-born non-binary and non-conforming folks, save the date for a conversation on June 8 with our legal clinic partners.