Saskatchewan teen wants to change gender on ID without surgery

An online petition by a Regina teenager to change a gender rule in Saskatchewan has caught quite a bit of attention.

Lucas Kreutzer is 17 years old and transgender. When he went to change his legal name, Kreutzer learned he couldn't officially change his gender.

"She said, 'Then you have to put your birth gender and so that is female," Kreutzer said. "It kind of made me very upset inside because why, when I don't go by any other female pronouns or anything, why would I put that down?"

For Kreutzer, this is a simple case. He lives as a man. He goes to the men's washroom. He wants his ID to show that, too.

It's almost 2016 and what I have in my pants, or below my clothing, it shouldn't matter whether I am a female or a male.- LucasKreutzer

Kreutzer said hormones are his next step and he doesn't want to look like he's carrying a fake ID.

"Other people are going through this, not just me," he said. "So I want to be the voice to get everyone to notice that it's a real problem that's out there that we face."

As of Wednesday afternoon, Kreutzer's petition had 359 signatures.

"There's like 300 signatures, right, so obviously people are agreeing."

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The issue is something the provincial government tells CBC it is working on.

Currently, under the Vital Statistics Act, gender reassignment surgery is required in order to change the gender on a birth certificate.

In a statement, the government said it is talking with stakeholders and intends to introduce amendments to the Vital Statistics Act to remove the requirement for surgery.

"Other provinces and even some states in the U.S., you don't have to have sexual reassignment surgery to change your gender," Kreutzer said. "As a province, we need to step up because it's almost 2016 and what I have in my pants, or below my clothing, it shouldn't matter whether I am a female or a male."

It's still too early to know how the details will work, but for now the province tells CBC it would make that change for adults only.

Kreutzer said such a change would be a step in the right direction, but he'd like to see it made available for people under 18 years old as well.