Puerto Rico allowing transgender people to fix birth certificates

MIAMI, United States- Transgender people in Puerto Rico can now modify their birth certificates to match their gender identity after activists won a lawsuit against the US territory's governor.

The change, which went into effect Monday, will comply with a ruling from the US District Court for Puerto Rico, which in April struck down the island's policy preventing transgender people living there from correcting gender on birth certificates.

"The right to identify our own existence lies at the heart of one's humanity," wrote US District Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo at the time. "And so, we must heed their voices: 'the woman that I am,' 'the man that I am.'"

The latest victory for the LGBT community leaves just three US states that prohibit amending the gender marker on the official identification documents: Kansas, Ohio, and Tennessee.

"It's a relief to finally have a birth certificate that truly reflects who I am," said one of the plaintiffs, Daniela Arroyo, in a statement released by Lambda Legal, an LGBT civil rights nonprofit.

Omar Gonzalez Pagan, a lawyer for Lambda Legal, said the group had already filed suit against Ohio's rule.

In its statement, the group said almost one-third of transgender people whose identity documents are at odds with the gender they appear to be have been denied benefits or services and faced harassment or assault.

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White House rolls back protections for transgender students

The White House on Wednesday overturned protections for transgender students that required public schools to allow them to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching the gender with which they identify.

By lifting federal guidelines issued by the Obama administration, the Trump administration is leaving it up to states and school districts to decide whether students should have access to bathrooms that do not reflect their biological sex.

The justice and education departments said in a joint statement that they "withdrew guidance for educational institutions, issued in 2015 and 2016, that took the position that the prohibitions in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and implementing regulations against discrimination on the basis of sex require access to sex-segregated facilities on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex."

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Boy Scouts of America to begin accepting transgender boys

The Boy Scouts of America said on Monday the group would begin accepting transgender boys, bucking its more than a century-old practice of using the gender stated on a birth certificate to determine eligibility.

"Starting today, we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs based on the gender identity indicated on the application," Boy Scouts of America communications director Effie Delimarkos said in an emailed statement.

Delimarkos' cited shifting definitions of gender under state laws, which can "vary widely from state to state," in explaining the change.

Delimarkos said while the organization offers programs for all youths, its Cub and Boy Scout programs are specifically for boys. The change will allow children to apply even if male is not listed on their birth certificate.

In 2013, the Boy Scouts voted to lift a ban on openly gay scouts that had been in place throughout the organization's history. Two years later, the organization lifted its blanket ban on gay adult leaders after its president called the ban unsustainable.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US military repeals ban on transgender service members

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Thursday ended its ban on openly transgender people serving in the U.S. military, formally removing the risk to an estimated thousands of U.S. troops who once could have been kicked out of the armed forces due to gender identity.

The repeal, which ends one of the last barriers to serving in the military, comes after a 2011 decision to end the U.S. military's ban on openly gay and lesbian people serving, despite concerns - which proved unfounded - that such a move could be too great a burden in wartime and would undermine battle readiness.

"We're eliminating policies that can result in transgender members being treated differently from their peers based solely upon their gender identity rather than upon their ability to serve," Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters.

Carter said that within 90 days, the Pentagon would create a guidebook for commanders on rules regarding transgender service members and medical guidance to doctors.

Within one year, transgender individuals would be allowed to join the armed forces, provided they have been "stable" in their preferred gender for 18 months, he said.

Carter said that based on a study carried out by the RAND Corporation, there were about 2,500 transgender active-duty service members and 1,500 reserve transgender service members. Still, Rand's figures were within a range, which at the upper end reached 7,000 active duty forces and 4,000 reserves.

The RAND study, which was also released on Thursday, said the lifting of the ban would cost between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually in medical care, but could reduce costs associated with mental health.

A Defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon had not yet made a determination on what it would cost to make changes in military facilities, like potentially adding shower curtains, but that it would only be a onetime cost.

"The reality is that we have transgender service members serving in uniform today," Carter said, acknowledging the policy change will have implications for issues including deployment and medical treatment.

He added that at least 18 countries already allowed transgender personnel to serve openly in their militaries.

Carter announced last year that he intended to lift the ban and laid out a series of steps, including a six-month study on the implications of lifting the restrictions. But advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community said the process, which eventually stretched to nearly a year, has taken too long.

Advocates praised Carter's announcement on Thursday and said it followed several moves by the military to be more inclusive in the last decade.

"I would hope that it showcases the fact that the sky will not fall, the world will not come apart, by us being a more inclusive and open society," said Matt Thorn, executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an advocacy group for LGBT military personnel. "I don't think anybody should be concerned or afraid about moving forward with this policy."

But critics have argued that Carter is putting the political agenda of the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama ahead of military readiness.

"Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue to push for actual answers to the readiness questions we've been asking for nearly a year to which we have still not received a response," Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

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US to issue decree on transgender access to school restrooms: NY Times

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is planning to issue a sweeping decree telling every public school district in the country to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The letter to school districts that will go out on Friday describing what they should do to ensure that none of their students are discriminated against is signed by officials of the Justice Department and Education Department, according to the Times.

It does not have the force of law but contains an implicit threat that schools which do not abide by the Obama administration's interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid, the newspaper said.

"No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus," Education Secretary John King Jr. said in a statement, according to the Times.

"We must ensure that our young people know that whoever they are or wherever they come from, they have the opportunity to get a great education in an environment free from discrimination, harassment and violence," he said.

The move comes as the Obama administration and North Carolina battle in federal court over a state law passed in March that limits public bathroom access for transgender people.

By passing the law, North Carolina became the first state in the country to ban people from using multiple occupancy restrooms or changing rooms in public buildings and schools that do not match the sex on their birth certificate. (Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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