An independent human rights adjudicator has ruled that the Manitoba government discriminated against a transgender person when it refused to allow a non-binary sex designation on that person’s birth certificate.
The province now has 180 days to comply with the ruling and allow people to choose to designate neither male nor female as their gender on legal documents.
Adjudicator Dan Manning has ordered the government to pay $50,000 in damages to T.A., the trans pangender person who filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in 2015.
T.A. doesn’t identify as male or female and uses the pronoun they. They tried to change the sex designation on their birth certificate in 2012, but Manitoba’s Vital Statistics Agency denied the request
Manning has awarded $50,000 to be paid to T.A. in 60 days for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect.
The province argues that since every Manitoban is not allowed a birth certificate without a sex designation or non-binary designation, here was no discrimination.
Manning says the government failed to recognize T.A.’s personhood when it decided to deny their request.
A spokesperson for the government said that the province has received the adjudicator’s decision and will carefully review it to determine how to deal with it.
Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories issue non-binary birth certificates, which allow people to list their gender as “X” instead of male or female.
