The Department of Health is speeding up processing times for sex designation changes on birth certificates, an apparent response to federal anti-transgender orders.
Processing requests for sex designation changes for birth certificates issued in Washington can typically take up to 10 months, Gov. Bob Ferguson posted on X on Wednesday. Now, he said, requests will be processed in three business days and delivered after two weeks. Ferguson said a department team of over a dozen people worked through the weekend to clear a backlog of more than 500 requests.
President Donald Trump's fleet of executive orders signed on Inauguration Day included one titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." The order states it is U.S. policy "to recognize two sexes, male and female" and continues: "These sexes are not changeable."
Gender identity and sex are not always the same. Sex generally refers to a person's anatomy, whereas gender has to do with a person's social and personal identity and can be different from their assigned sex at birth.
A Washington birth certificate has three options for sex designation: M, F or X. The "X" sex designation is often used to refer to a gender that is not exclusively male or female, according to the Department of Health.
The federal government was ordered to implement changes recognizing only "male" and "female" sexes on government-issued identification, including passports and visas. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed department staff to freeze all applications for passports with "X" sex markers and changes to gender identity on existing passports, according to The Guardian. The government began issuing passports with the identification "X" in April 2022. Passports with the "X" identification are still valid, though issues will arise with renewals, The Guardian reported.
The state Department of Health website says it is "unsure" if other agencies like the federal Department of State will accept amended certificates. For records with amended sex designation, nothing on the certificate will reflect that a change was made, according to the department.
Request forms to change sex designation on a birth certificate are available on the Department of Health website. Minors must have a form completed and signed by a parent or legal guardian and must have their form signed by a licensed health care provider.
To receive a new birth certificate that reflects the requested change, residents must complete an order form and include $25 for each copy. Residents with questions can contact SexDesignationChange@doh.wa.gov.
© 2025 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
