HB2451

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Act 148, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, expanded gender markers for Hawaii's driver's licenses and state identification cards. The legislature notes that Act 148 successfully went into effect on July 1, 2020. The legislature further finds that other states, such as Washington, have also permitted the third gender-to be used for other official documents, such as birth certificates. This ensures that an individual's gender markers match on all the individual's official documents.

The purpose of this Act is to add the gender marker "X" as a third gender option on birth certificates and permit individuals to submit an application for a change in sex designation on their birth certificates that reflects this third gender option.

SECTION 2. Section 338-17.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§338-17.7 Establishment of new certificates of birth, when. (a) The department of health shall establish, in the following circumstances, a new certificate of birth for a person born in this State who already has a birth certificate filed with the department and who is referred to below as the "birth registrant":

(1) Upon receipt of an affidavit of paternity, a court order establishing paternity, or a certificate of marriage establishing the marriage of the natural parents to each other, together with a request from the birth registrant, or the birth registrant's parent or other person having legal custody of the birth registrant, that a new birth certificate be prepared because previously recorded information has been altered pursuant to law;

(2) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a final order, judgment, or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction that determined the nonexistence of a parent and child relationship between a person identified as a parent on the birth certificate on file and the birth registrant;

(3) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a final adoption decree, or of an abstract of the decree, pursuant to sections 338-20 and 578-14;

(4) Upon receipt of an affidavit [~~from a United States licensed physician attesting that:~~

~~(A)~~ ~~The physician has a bona fide physician-patient relationship with the birth registrant;~~

~~(B)~~ ~~The physician has treated and evaluated the birth registrant and has reviewed and evaluated the birth registrant's medical history;~~

~~(C)~~ ~~The birth registrant has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender and has completed the transition to the new gender; and~~

~~(D)~~ ~~The new gender does not align with the sex designation on the birth registrant's birth certificate; or~~] and request for a change in sex designation on the birth registrant's birth certificate, if the birth registrant is an adult, or for a change in sex designation of a minor birth registrant's birth certificate by the minor birth registrant's parent or legal guardian, pursuant to the requirements under subsection (c); or

(5) Upon request of a law enforcement agency certifying that a new birth certificate showing different information would provide for the safety of the birth registrant; provided that the new birth certificate shall contain information requested by the law enforcement agency, shall be assigned a new number and filed accordingly, and shall not substitute for the birth registrant's original birth certificate, which shall remain in place.

(b) When a new certificate of birth is established under this section, it shall be substituted for the original certificate of birth. The new certificate shall not be marked as amended and shall in no way reveal the original language changed by any amendment. Thereafter, the original certificate and the evidence supporting the preparation of the new certificate shall be sealed and filed. The sealed documents shall be opened only by an order of a court of record or, for those documents amended pursuant to [~~subsection~~] subsections (a)(4)[,] and (c), by request of the birth registrant.

(1) The request for a new certificate of birth shall be submitted to the department of health along with a completed, signed, and dated sex designation change application provided by the state registrar that includes, at a minimum, the following information for the birth registrant:

(A) Full name listed on the birth certificate;

(B) Date of birth;

(D) Both parents' full names as listed on the birth certificate;

(E) Contact information; and

(F) Sex designation requested (male, female, or X);

(2) If an adult birth registrant or parent or legal guardian of a minor birth registrant cannot provide the information in paragraph (1) due to special circumstances, the adult birth registrant or parent or legal guardian of a minor birth registrant shall submit a written explanation of the circumstances to the state registrar. The department of health may change the sex designation on the birth certificate if, in the state registrar's judgment, these circumstances prevent the adult birth registrant or parent or legal guardian of the minor birth registrant from knowing one or more of the required items;

(3) A sex designation change application for an adult birth registrant shall only be submitted by the adult birth registrant and shall be notarized and signed under penalty of perjury; and

(4) A sex designation change application for a minor birth registrant shall only be submitted by the parent or legal guardian of the minor birth registrant and shall be accompanied by a signed statement by the minor birth registrant's licensed health care provider attesting that:

(A) The minor birth registrant identified on the application is under the care of the health care provider; and

(B) The health care provider has determined the request for a change in sex designation on the minor birth registrant's birth certificate is consistent with the minor birth registrant's identity;

provided that only a licensed health care provider whose scope of practice allows for attestation of a sex designation change shall provide the attestation required under this paragraph.

[~~(c)~~] (d) If a new certificate of birth is established under [~~subsection~~] subsections (a)(4)[,] and (c), it shall reflect, or shall be reissued to reflect, any legal name change made before, simultaneously, or after the change in sex designation; provided appropriate documentation of the name change is submitted.

[~~(d)~~] (e) If a new certificate of birth is established under [~~subsection~~] subsections (a)(4)[,] and (c), the department shall not require any additional medical information or records other than those required by [~~subsection~~] subsections (a)(4)[.] and (c).

(f) For purposes of this section:

"Adult" means a person eighteen years of age or older or an emancipated minor as deemed pursuant to section 577-25.

"X" means a third non-binary gender option."

SECTION 3. The department of health shall create and make available the necessary forms for the application for a new certificate of birth established pursuant to section 2 of this Act.

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 2023.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2451
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII