Kori Doty, a Canadian parent who identifies as a non-binary transgender, issued their newborn baby a health document that doesn’t specify male or female in an attempt to avoid assigning gender to the child. Campaigners are calling this a possible “world first.”
Baby Searyl Atli Doty was born “outside the medical system” in British Columbia and didn’t receive the typical genital inspection after birth, campaign group Gender Free I.D. Coalition said in a statement.
According to the group’s website, the goal is “to remove all gender/sex designations from identity documents.”
Doty is a firm believer of this notion.
“It is up to Searyl to decide how they identify, when they are old enough to develop their own gender identity,” Doty said in the statement. “I am not going to foreclose their choices based on an arbitrary assignment of gender at birth based on an inspection of their genitals.”
On the baby’s health card, the name and birthdate are listed while the sex has been labeled as “U,” which stands for “unspecified or unknown,” according to the Coalition. Health cards enable Canadians to use public health care services and need to be provided every time a medical service is used. Canada’s universal health-care system is paid for by taxes and the individual Canadian provinces are responsible for the cards.
Omitting a designated gender from the child’s card was inspired by Doty’s own personal experiences.
“When I was born, doctors looked at my genitals and made assumptions about who I would be, and those assignments followed me and followed my identification throughout my life,” Doty told CBC. “Those assumptions were incorrect, and I ended up having to do a lot of adjustments since then.”
Doty is one of eight complainants who are aiming to have gender designation removed from all new birth certificates. The case is currently being heard by British Columbia’s Human Rights Tribunal, the Gender Free I.D. Coalition reveals.
Doty’s baby didn’t receive a medical number at first and has also been denied a birth certificate.
After applying for a judicial review of the decision the denying Searyl’s birth certificate, the parent plans to argue that “requiring a gender marker” violates the baby’s rights “as a Canadian citizen to life, liberty and security of the person.”
“I want my kid to have all of the space to be the most whole and complete person that they can be,” Doty told CBC.
