Tag Archives: birth certificate

More on the drivers license/birth certificate gender change ban

Posted on September 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This Houston Landing story from Friday covers the recent news about the very quiet policy changes regarding birth certificates and drivers licenses, and adds some extra information at the end. I’m going to focus on that part of it. The … Continue reading →

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Now trans Texans can’t get their birth certificates updated

Posted on September 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is getting uglier. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) made an unannounced policy change Friday, modifying its requirements for Texans seeking to change the sex marker on their birth certificates. The DSHS website previously said the agency … Continue reading →

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DPS will no longer update gender on drivers licenses

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What the hell? Transgender Texans will not be able to change the sex listed on their driver’s licenses, according to a policy change rolled out this week. Under the new policy, Texans will not be able to change the sex … Continue reading →

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More on finding Baby Holly

Posted on July 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Everything about this story continues to fascinate me. How did investigators find Holly Marie Clouse? It all came down to a question about spelling — and a birth certificate. In January, genealogists identified the bodies of Harold Dean Clouse and Tina … Continue reading →

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House passes anti-trans sports bill

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Disgraceful. The Texas House approved legislation on Thursday that would restrict transgender student athlete participation in school sports, clearing a notable hurdle for supporters of the measure after similar legislation sailed through the Senate and stalled in the House three … Continue reading →

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Senate Republicans advance their anti-trans sports bill

Posted on July 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There were enough of them on the committee to have a quorum by themselves, so they did the thing that they do. Legislation that would limit transgender students’ participation in school sports advanced out of a Senate committee on Monday after … Continue reading →

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Trump administration denying passports to US citizens born near the border

Posted on September 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This is infuriating. On paper, he’s a devoted U.S. citizen. His official American birth certificate shows he was delivered by a midwife in Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas. He spent his life wearing American uniforms: three years as … Continue reading →

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Abbott waives fees for birth certificates for individuals from hurricane-affected counties

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From Diane Trautman on Facebook, also sent to me in email: Governor Greg Abbott has approved a request allowing the state to waive fees for mail-in or walk-in birth certificate issuance requests, and local registrars to waive fees for walk-in birth … Continue reading →

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And then there’s the birth certificate issue

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Just another problem that would be exacerbated by a bathroom bill. In order to modify a birth certificate in Texas, the Department of State Health Services requires transgender individuals to present a certified court order stating the recorded sex on … Continue reading →

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When your gender doesn’t match your birth certificate

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Daily Beast looks at what it means in practice to be a transgender person in Texas facing the prospect of having to use your birth certificate to use the bathroom. According to the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank … Continue reading →

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SB6 will hurt people

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It will hurt transgender people, who despite what Dan Patrick would have you think, are people like you and me. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has said his so-called bathroom bill isn’t discriminatory because transgender people can update their birth certificates … Continue reading →

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UT will not push UIL on transgender athletes

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate. Despite objections from LGBT advocates, UIL’s longstanding informal policy is set to become official August 1 — when it takes effect as an amendment to the league’s constitution. The amendment, initially approved by UIL’s Legislative Council last year, wasoverwhelmingly ratified … Continue reading →

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State settles birth certificate lawsuit

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. After undergoing mediation, the state of Texas has reached an agreement with undocumented families in a lawsuit over its denial to issue birth certificates to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. The state will clarify and expand … Continue reading →

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UIL punts again on transgender athletes

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I say again, please reconsider this. The debate over the University Interscholastic League’s policy for transgender athletes continues after the organization’s legislative council took no action during Tuesday’s meeting in Round Rock. The UIL rule stating a student’s gender is … Continue reading →

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Voter ID’s day before the full Fifth Circuit

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. A top lawyer for Texas fiercely defended the state’s strictest-in-the-nation voter identification law on Tuesday, in a high-profile case that could ultimately determine at what point states that assert that they are protecting the integrity of … Continue reading →

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More on the UIL ban of transgender athletes

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From ThinkProgress: Transgender rights in Texas took another step backward last month, when public school superintendents voted 586-32 in favor of a rule that requires schools to use birth certificates to determine the gender of student-athletes. This law is seen … Continue reading →

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School districts vote to approve new UIL policy restricting transgender athletes

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate. Despite strong opposition from LGBT advocates, representatives from Texas school districts have overwhelmingly endorsed a proposal aimed at barring transgender boys and girls from participating in athletics alongside their cisgender peers. District superintendents and athletic directors voted 409-25 in … Continue reading →

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Transgender people can now get correct birth certificates

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent news. Last week, Texas began giving trans people the option of sealing their old birth certificates and issuing new ones, according to Dallas attorney Katie Sprinkle. Previously, Texas issued amended certificates and those were only issued with a surgeon’s … Continue reading →

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Birth certificate denials only started happening recently

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Funny how these things work, isn’t it? Texas has for seven years said it won’t accept Mexican identification cards when issuing birth certificates for children of people in the United States illegally. But it doesn’t appear to have stepped up … Continue reading →

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Please rethink this, UIL

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Bad idea. The governing body for Texas high school sports decided Monday to ask superintendents to determine whether to formalize a policy that uses student-athletes’ birth certificates to determine their gender. Such a policy already is informally used by the … Continue reading →

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Oral arguments in birth certificate lawsuit

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman heard oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by a group of undocumented parents and their U.S.-citizen children against the state Department of State Health Services, which has effectively blocked the children from … Continue reading →

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Paxton’s contempt saga officially ends

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure he’s so relieved. A federal judge has canceled next week’s contempt-of-court hearing for Attorney General Ken Paxton, saying it is not needed because Texas government agencies have begun acknowledging same-sex marriages. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia had ordered … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks to be excused from contempt hearing

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

He promises he’s been a good boy, so can he please come out of time out now? Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says he shouldn’t face a contempt hearing for failing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage … Continue reading →

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State issues new guidelines for birth and death certificates

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

That was quick. The state has issued new guidelines for filing and changing vital records to recognize same-sex marriage status, as ordered by a federal judge in San Antonio In a court advisory filed late Wednesday, the Texas Attorney General’s … Continue reading →

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Paxton gets a deadline

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Better stick to it. In an order late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia also instructed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and the Texas Department of State Health Services to approve all pending applications for death and birth certificates … Continue reading →

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Paxton avoids contempt hearing

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

He accomplished this by folding like a lawn chair on the issue of same-sex death and birth certificates. Wednesday’s contempt of court hearing for Attorney General Ken Paxton and a state health official was canceled Monday after state officials agreed … Continue reading →

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State Health Services department finally amends that death certificate

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Complying with a federal court order, Texas has issued an amended death certificate acknowledging a Conroe man as the husband of a same-sex spouse who had died in January. The men had been married in New Mexico in 2014, … Continue reading →

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I’m not the only one who thought the state’s response to the birth certificate lawsuit was specious

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Actual legal experts didn’t think much of it, either. The state of Texas can’t hide behind sovereign immunity to escape a lawsuit for denying birth certificates to U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants, the director of the University of Texas’ … Continue reading →

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State wants birth certificate lawsuit dropped

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know about that. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday asked a federal district judge to dismiss a lawsuit that claims a state agency violated the U.S. Constitution by denying birth certificates to U.S.-citizen children of immigrant parents. … Continue reading →

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More on the state’s refusal to issue birth certificates

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer follows up. Two legislators have weighed in on the controversy over Texas’ refusal to grant birth certificates to some children of undocumented families. On Wednesday, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, … Continue reading →

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Revisiting birth certificates

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This is one of those next steps that needs to be taken. After the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, some gay and lesbian couples in Texas have raised questions about another legal document – birth certificates. They want Texas … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over state refusal to issue birth certificates

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure this won’t be contentious at all. For nearly 150 years, the United States, under the 14th Amendment, has recognized people born here as citizens, regardless of whether their parents were citizens. But Texas has other plans. In the … Continue reading →

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Senate belatedly addresses one voter ID concern

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Better really late and at least mildly coerced than never, I guess. The Texas Senate, with scant attention during an early morning vote, gave its unanimous answer to a lingering question the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals posed about … Continue reading →

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Anchia birth certificate bill passes out of committee

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. House Bill 537, by Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), would allow same-sex parents to have both names on the birth certificates of adopted children. […] On Monday, the committee quietly voted 7-4 to advance HB 537, with Cook and … Continue reading →

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