Public Health Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-6549
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING AMENDMENTS TO MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES.
Vote Date: 3/26/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 3/17/2021
File No.: 436
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Public Health Committee
Department of Public Health
REASONS FOR BILL:
A 2015 law allowed people to amend their sex designator on their birth certificate without
having to undergo medical treatment. This bill would allow the birth certificate to align with the
marriage certificate by updating the marriage certificate.
Substitute language is submitted in line 51, referencing the original birth certificate.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Deidre S. Gifford, MD, MPH, Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Public Health:
Connecticut law was revised to allow a person to request an amendment to the sex
designator on such persons birth certificate without having to undergo medical treatment.
With the elimination of this requirement, the Department has seen a large increase in
requests for sex amendments. However, the law only allows for the birth certificate to be
updated, with no comparable law that allows for the updating of a marriage certificate. If
gender transition occurs after a person is already married, that persons marriage certificate
cannot be amended to reflect their current gender. The marriage certificate will continue to
associate the person with their former gender and name.
The Department has received several requests to allow a marriage certificate to align with the
persons current gender and would like to honor these requests. This bill will achieve this
purpose.
Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, State of Connecticut:
The changes in this bill are part of ongoing efforts by the legislature to remove barriers to
transgender individuals who are legally changing their gender from the one assigned at birth.
Often someone who is transgender encounters many challenges in daily living. By creating a
straightforward pathway to changing ones identity on a marriage certificate, this bill is
providing one less challenge to aligning ones legal identity with ones gender identity
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Connecticut Hospital Association:
CHA would like to request the following amendment that will resolve an issue that has been
identified by hospital patients. From time to time hospital patients are unable, due to medical
reasons, to appear in person at the registrars office to obtain a marriage license. Our
amendment seeks to provide some relief to these patients by requiring registrars to make all
reasonable efforts to accommodate a patient in this unique circumstance. Current statute is
silent on making the accommodation and is sometimes interpreted by registrars as requiring
application to be made in person at the registrars office. The amendment will provide
additional clarity to registrars and the public as to what is permitted.
LGBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD):
Transgender and non-binary people, like others, need identity documents and records to
open bank accounts, start new jobs, enroll in school, obtain health care, travel, and navigate
everyday life.3 Having documents that do not reflect who they are or that do not match their
other records can create significant problems in peoples lives. Indeed, one recent U.S.
survey found that mismatched identification exposes people to a range of negative outcomes,
from denial of employment, housing, and public benefits to harassment and physical
violence.
GLAD would support a process in which government documentation reflecting an applicants
gender as of the date of the request could serve as evidence to satisfy the commissioners
requirements. GLAD believes that a statutory provision that allows for any government
documentation to serve as evidence for the requested change meets any state-based
concerns regarding accuracy or the corrected record.
Kelly McConney Moore, Interim Senior Policy Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
of Connecticut (ACLU-CT):
Trans people have a fundamental right to live their lives as the people and gender they truly
are. When the government puts up difficult and unnecessary barriers to trans people
changing their identity documents, the government is in fact violating that persons right to
their own identity and privacy.
HB 6549 is needed to ensure that trans people can obtain identity documents that affirm
them instead of ones that violate their liberty interests.
Jason P. Prevelige, MHS, PA-C Chair, Legislative Affairs Committee, Connecticut
Association of Physician Assistants:
ConnAPA respectfully requests that Physician Assistants (PAs) are included in this bill
alongside Physicians, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, and Psychologists. PAs are
Page 2 of 3 HB-6549
routinely the primary providers of care for citizens of Connecticut, and as such need to be
included in this bill. As it is there is already distrust, discomfort and difficulty accessing care
by the transgender population. By forcing a transgendered individual that primarily sees a PA
to see another provider for such a certification will create further disparity for the population.
PAs practice medicine and work across all specialties and practice settings. PAs assess,
diagnose, and treat disease, and provide preventative and primary care. PAs are passionate
about the well-being of their patients, and in these times especially, it is clear how crucial
telemedicine has become.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
There was no opposition submitted to this bill
Reported by: David Rackliffe Date: April 19, 2021
Page 3 of 3 HB-6549


Statutes affected:
Raised Bill:
PH Joint Favorable Substitute:
File No. 436: