The number of New Yorkers who have applied for transgender birth certificates has skyrocketed since the city council removed the sex reassignment surgery requirement.
The council decided last year that a person does not need to have sex reassignment surgery to change the gender designation on his or her birth certificate.
The city's health commissioner, Dr. Mary Travis Bassett, said Wednesday the city has received and approved 129 certificates since January 12. That's a massive increase compared to 22 certificates approved in 2013 and 20 in 2012.
The city's previous policy required anyone wishing to change his or her birth certificate to undergo the surgery, which can be medically and financially prohibitive. Advocates argued that making the surgical procedure mandatory was discriminatory.
