CHICAGO (CN) — A new law in Illinois will help transgender residents update their personal documents with their preferred gender.
The law allows Illinois residents born outside the state to petition their county court "to issue a finding of fact or facts to correct or update a birth certificate issued by another state or country."
"It is the intent of the General Assembly that Illinois should have a legal process available for these [foreign-born] residents to seek a judicial order making findings of fact so that they may petition the issuing jurisdiction to change a birth certificate," the language of the law states.
Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the new law on Sunday, alongside a separate piece of legislation requiring nonprofits' boards of directors to publicly report their demographic information. The governor signed both bills as Chicago and other Illinois communities celebrated the final weekend of LGBTQ Pride Month.
Under the new law, those in Illinois looking to change their gender marker on their out-of-state birth certificate will not need a court order from the states or countries where the birth certificate originated. The law clarifies that Illinois judges can instead issue the documentation necessary for the change.
"Illinoisans of all gender identities and backgrounds deserve a safe, accessible pathway to maintaining updated documentation," Democratic state representative Kevin Olickal, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a prepared statement. "By allowing residents to petition for updates to their birth certificates from another jurisdiction, this inclusive legislation ensures that all Illinoisans have accurate and recognized documentation, which is essential for many legal and identity purposes."
The change also allows foreign-born, transgender Illinois residents to circumvent documentation rules in their regions of birth that may not be as amenable to gender changes. Multiple U.S. states have restrictions on amending birth certificate gender markers as of 2024; states like Kansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee do not allow any gender marker amendments at all.
"Illinois is one of the most progressive states on this," Ing Swenson, Director of Behavioral Health at Chicago's LGBTQ Center on Halsted told Courthouse News. "You can change both your gender marker and you can change your name."
Multiple civil rights and LGBTQ advocacy groups in the state gave their support to the law, including Equality Illinois, the Illinois ACLU, the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois and Lambda Legal. The new rule also had the support of several healthcare and labor organizations, like Planned Parenthood, Chicago's LGBTQ-focused Howard Brown Health Network and the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Both houses of the Democrat-dominated Illinois legislature voted in favor of the bill earlier this spring, with support and opposition largely split down Democrat and Republican party lines respectively.
Illinois in recent years has emerged as a relative safe haven for LGBTQ protections in the Midwest, amid other state governments' efforts to curtail them. In neighboring Indiana for example, the federal courts have proven amenable to anti-LGBTQ legal efforts — earlier this year the Seventh Circuit allowed the state to enact a previously-blocked prohibition on gender-affirming care for minors.
Transgender rights in particular are a family issue for Pritzker; his cousin Jennifer Pritzker is the world's only openly transgender billionaire.
“Here in Illinois, we reject hate, bigotry, and discrimination and embrace the ethos of Pride through not only our laws but through our actions and shared values,” the governor said in a prepared statement.
Swenson said that allowing transgender Illinoisans to amend their birth certificate gender markers can help relieve social anxiety, and alleviate the fear that one's gender identity may be weaponized against them.
"It's just peace of mind, you know? This is in public records, there's always the fear that someone can go and find that information," he said.
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