Gender change to Oklahoma birth certificate causes controversy
By KOCO Staff
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Birth certificates give male or female options, but today, one person was allowed to change to non-binary.
This was a legal settlement that involved the state health department where a current Oregon resident born in Oklahoma wanted their birth certificate to match their non-binary identity. Supporters said this was a step in the right direction.
Others, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, disagreed in a statement released.
“I believe that people are created by God to be male or female,” Stitt said. “Period. There is no such thing as non-binary sex.”
Stitt also said he will be “taking whatever action necessary to protect Oklahoma values and our way of life.”
The executive director of Freedom Oklahoma Nicole McAfee said non-binary and trans people have always been here and they deserve to be acknowledged for their existence. She thinks that an accurate birth certificate is a start.
“It’s important for folks, as they choose, to get those documents updated and to have those options to reflect who they really are. Our communities are better, and we all work better when that’s available to folks,” McAfee said.
Oklahoma has a non-binary state lawmaker Representative Mauree Turner.
Turner took to Twitter on Thursday to say the governor lacked critical thinking skills and blasted him and other lawmakers saying, “as a non-binary Oklahoman who has to sit in rooms with these folks who quite literally pretend that I don’t exist … I don’t expect anything less from them.”
Some of Turner’s Republican colleagues have already jumped out in opposition to allowing amended birth certificates. One state senator already filed a bill that would legally require male and female to be the only options.
As a non-binary Oklahoma who has to sit in rooms with these folks who quite literally pretend that I don’t exist – I don’t expect anything less from them. — Mauree Turner (They/Them) (@MaureeTurnerOK) October 21, 2021
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