Abstract
This research will examine one type of official identity – the birth certificate – and how the ability to alter such a document, after the enactment of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in the United Kingdom, affected individual trans people’s motivations to alter, or not, the official sex/gender identity marker on their birth certificates. An examination will be made of a series of interviews conducted with trans identified persons in order to better understand the motivation, or not, to change one’s official sex/gender identity marker on a birth certificate from that which was medically assigned at birth. Respondents reported a number of motivations including access to various social and legal benefits, a greater sense of psychological well-being, and a desire for jurisdictional coherence. They also reported a number of non-motivations including the financial burden, ethical objections to having to be judged by a panel of presumed experts, and the desire for conflicting documents as a form of willful political protest. The goal of this research is to better understand the motivations, or lack thereof, of individuals to alter (or not) the official sex/gender marker on their birth certificate.