Oklahoma GOP Governor Blasts Non-Binary Birth Certificates: “People Are Created By God To Be Male Or Female. Period”

 

Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt blasted the state health department’s move to provide a nonbinary birth certificate option for babies on Thursday, claiming, “I believe that people are created by God to be male or female. Period.” 

“There is no such thing as non-binary sex,” Stitt stated. “I wholeheartedly condemn the purported OSDH court settlement that was entered into by rogue activists who acted without receiving proper approval or oversight,” KJRH reported. 

Oklahoma Republican State Sen. Micheal Bergstrom introduced a bill Wednesday that would limit the gender options on birth certificates in Oklahoma to male and female. He stated that anything other than male or female was “ludicrous” on a birth certificate, stating:

“I was assured by the State Department of Health a couple months ago that they had no intention of adding another sex option to birth certificates, but they recently approved a non-binary option. We’re at an odd time in history where people are seemingly forgetting science and biology and casting common sense out the window. When babies are born, they are either born male or female based on their chromosomes and genitals. Allowing anything else to be listed on a birth certificate is ludicrous, and it’s time we clarify this in our statutes.” 

Dr. Lance Frye, Oklahoma’s State Commissioner of Health, issued a statement Thursday afternoon stating:

“A legal settlement regarding birth certificate designations was reached in May by the prior attorney general’s office. The Oklahoma State Department of Health will work with the Governor and Attorney General’s office for input and counsel on next steps. Our responsibility is to maintain vital statistics, and we will continue to do so in accordance with the laws of Oklahoma. Should a challenge to the previous agreement be made, we will proceed accordingly.”

The issue came to light after Oregon resident Kit Lorelied sued the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Lorelied was born and raised in Oklahoma and now identifies as nonbinary.  Oklahoma is now one of 15 U.S. states that has “non-binary” birth certificates.

Jackie Shawnee, chief of staff for Frye, stated, “Requirements for legally changing the sex designation on an Oklahoma birth certificate have changed. In order to legally change the sex designation on an original Oklahoma birth certificate, you must obtain a court order from an Oklahoma court. A certified copy of this court order must be presented to (the) Oklahoma (Office of) Vital Records before an amended birth certificate can be issued,” as nondoc.com reported. 

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Frye resigned from his post as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of Health on Friday. According to Rachel Klein, Director of Communications for OSDH, Frye did not retire over the birth certificate gender choice controversy.  “His decision did not have anything to do with that,” Klein stated. “He was not influenced by that decision…He decided to leave because he felt it was time to move on.”