• @kava@lemmy.world
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    -11 year ago

    A strange need for a document to be immutable? Perfection of historical information?

    Is it so strange that someone expects an official document about someone’s birth to accurately represent that birth?

    But is that what we want? Fuck it, let’s change the past and pretend it’s something that’s a little more pleasant. It’s “for a good reason”. To make someone feel better. Get rid of anything that might cause discomfort while you’re at it. Let’s get rid of slavery - might make people feel uncomfortable. Seems you agree more with DeSantis’s fascist revisionism than you might initially expect.

    People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect no matter who they are. But we cannot start playing make believe to protect feelings. A rock is a rock is a rock. If you were born a male then you were born a male end of story.

    You can transition after, and people should show you respect and kindness. But forever and for the rest of history you would have been born a male.

    It makes me feel so frustrated how this ideology has impregnated the left. We are losing the war against fascism and here we are focusing on absolute absurdities.

      • @kava@lemmy.world
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        01 year ago

        Are you claiming birth certificates are not generally accurate? I haven’t personally examined a large number of them - just close family members & girlfriends. Every one I’ve looked at has been accurate.

        • @surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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          31 year ago

          You can’t be so concerned about accuracy that changing 1 in a thousand is a problem for you, and then use the word ‘generally’. You want ridiculously high precision, or you wouldn’t care if a tiny percentage went back to correct theirs.

      • @kava@lemmy.world
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        01 year ago

        The birth certificate doesn’t typically get changed when you change your name. But yeah, I would disagree with both things equally. I don’t think we should change birth certificate at all. I actually think it’s a dangerous thing to start doing.

          • @kava@lemmy.world
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            11 year ago

            In most jurisdictions, the birth certificate generally remains unchanged to reflect the original information at the time of birth. Some places allow for an amended birth certificate, which will show the new name but also indicate that the name has been legally changed. I’m fine with changing the sex as long as there is an asterisk next to it.

            I don’t see how this is similar to mail in ballots. The attempts by the GOP to lower access to voting is directly unconstitutional and a deliberate attempt at voter suppression. They have said as much - for example for voter id laws a NC congressman GOP member openly said it’s because implementing that law would reduce black voting by like 2% or something from their research. That would help Republicans win elections.

            And sure, I’ll give you that they are doing this as a deliberate way to rile up the anti-trans base. However, just because someone does something for wrong reason doesn’t mean what he does is wrong.

            What I mean by dangerous is the arbitrary alteration of historical documents. We rely on our documents to be able to accurately represent the past. If we change these, we are essentially “deleting” the past. I mentioned before, DeSantis’s revisionism. What if we got rid of all mentions of slavery in our historical record? No future historian could ever study slavery. It would essentially not have happened.

            Now, the reason for doing it may be noble. You want a trans person to feel better about the transition, so you change the name on the birth certificate. But I think that this does not warrant the alteration of historical records. Put a little amendment star on the birth certificate and attach a new document if it needs to be done. This is what many places do. But do not change the original document in such a way that makes it seem they were born a sex they were not.

              • @kava@lemmy.world
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                11 year ago

                The bill is not very long you can read it here

                In 2019 the Kansas courts essentially passed a ruling that made it so you could change the birth certificate. Not an amendment. Just totally alter the birth certificate to change both the name and the sex - as if it were the name and sex you were born with. Which, as we discussed, is absurd.

                Now it’s impossible legally speaking because they passed that new law, SB 180 that defines what a man or a woman is. And in that new definition, you are either male at birth, female at birth, or have some sort of sex “disorder/difference”. You can’t alter that sex in the legal sense.

                An individual’s “sex” means such individual’s biological sex, either male or female, at birth;

                a “female” is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova, and a “male” is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female;

                an individual born with a medically verifiable diagnosis of “disorder/differences in sex development” shall be provided legal protections and accommodations afforded under the Americans with disabilities act and applicable Kansas statutes.


                Which to be honest, I don’t really see what the big deal is. Who cares what a piece of paper says? What is more important is your sense of self-identity and how people treat you. At the end of the day, If you are born a male and you undergo a transition… take estrogen, grow breasts, look feminine, etc. If I see you walking down the street, I will assume you are a female and I will treat you as such. I think everyone has the right to respect, dignity, and the pursuit of happiness.

                However, we cannot start playing make-believe. A male->female trans person will always have XY chromosomes. If they transitioned after puberty, they will always have the male sexualization period that allows for muscle growth, adam’s apple, etc. No amount of wishing or contemporary medicine can reverse these things.

                So why not just keep the legal documents accurate and just treat them how they would like to be treated? Why the need to try and deny reality? This concerted effort to try and say 2 + 2 = 5? I really don’t understand how everyone is OK with this. I guess this is what ideology is.

                  • @kava@lemmy.world
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                    11 year ago

                    People have altered their sex/gender in birth certificates for decades, changed their names for centuries.

                    This is not true. It was not legally possible in Kansas to do this until 2019, where there was a court ruling that made it possible. It was not ever done in Kansas.

                    I told you why I give a damn. Official documents should represent reality. We should not alter history to make someone feel better. Road to hell is paved with good intentions. I’ve elaborated on this quite a bit actually, none of which you seem to be reading?