Spanish
The official document may contain an “X” to identify non-binary people
Puerto Rico.- Non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals in Puerto Rico can obtain their birth certificate to reflect their identity, following the Federal Court ruling.
“In moments when non-binary, gender non-conforming, and trans communities are under attack, this historic decision opens the door to the full recognition of their dignity. We celebrate a milestone that allows the equality promised in the Constitution to be put into practice,” asserted Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation, which celebrates the decision.
Federal Judge María Antongiorgi Jordán ruled on Friday that the current policy of Puerto Rico's birth certificates violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by not allowing non-binary individuals to change their gender marker to an “X” on their birth certificates.
Since 2018, transgender people in Puerto Rico have been allowed to modify the gender marker on their birth certificate from male to female or female to male. However, non-binary individuals, whose gender identity is neither male nor female, were denied this option.
The lawyer ordered the Demographic Registry of Puerto Rico to amend the Gender Change Request form to include the option of "X" as a third alternative in the gender marker.
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The case was presented by six non-binary people born in Puerto Rico: Ínaru Nadia de la Fuente Díaz, Maru Rosa Hernández, André Rodil, Yelvy Vélez Bartolomei, Gé Castro Cruz, and Deni Juste.
Judge Antongiorgi Jordán concluded that “there is no rational basis to deny the plaintiffs' request.” Reviewing various scenarios, the judicial determination recalled, for example, that an “X” mark has been allowed on U.S. passports since 2021, and a federal court has prohibited with emergency effect recent attempts to reverse that policy.
