To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
WHEREAS the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) employs a broad, non-binary description of gender identity which recognizes that identity may be diverse or fluid, and; Whereas accurate identification is critical for a person’s access to employment, housing, health care, and the many other circumstances that require government documentation in Canada, and;
WHEREAS identification that does not reflect a person’s identity can heighten their experiences of dysphoria, and;
WHEREAS currently Ontario Birth Certificates and Registration forms only allow for a male or female sex designation, and;
WHEREAS when requesting a change to Sex Designation, Ontarians are required to declare that they are “living full-time in the gender identity that accords with the requested change in sex designation and intend to maintain that gender identity,” which fails to recognize those whose identity is non-binary, diverse or fluid, and;
WHEREAS the Ontario Human Rights Commission recommended in 2014 that “there should be options for a third category for sex designation such as ‘transgender’ or ‘x’, or even no sex or gender indicator at all, on birth registrations and/or certificates and other official documents.”
We the undersigned petition the Ministry of Government Services to adopt the OHRC’s above 2014 recommendation for Government of Ontario identification where gender/sex designation is specified.