New bill aims to scrap sex clause from ID cards
As Israeli Pride Month opens, MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) seeks to remove sex clause from State IDs to for benefit of transgender community: 'Those who wish to change sex at Interior Ministry registry experience bureaucratic difficulties'
Knesset Member Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) is seeking to remove the sex clause from Israeli identity cards and has submitted a bill to the Knesset Secretariat with the backing of hee fellow party members as well as MK Merav Michaeli (Labor).
"There are people for whom mentioning their sex on their ID could cause discomfort and they do not find their biological sex as defining their gender," the bill read.
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The bill refers mainly to transgenders, who according to Zandberg must undergo sex change surgeries in order to change the sex clause in their ID cards, in accordance with Health Ministry protocol.
The explanatory notes to the bill, which is an amendment to the Population Registration Law, read: "This bill is meant to remove the mention of sex on State IDs. Most Israeli female and male citizens choose to carry a driver's license as their ID, where sex is not mentioned."
The bill further states that "the State ID carries many details such as a picture and an ID number among others, and these are sufficient for identification." Zandberg mentioned that this bill is meant to resolve problematic situations for some who wish to register at the Interior Ministry.
Speaking with Ynet, MK Zandberg noted that "We filed the bill in the wake of Pride Month. The sex article is unnecessary and useless for most Israeli male and female citizens and there is a weakened minority that experiences discomfort and suffering due to this clause.
"It is a minority of people who do not feel correspondence between their gender and their biological sex, and those who wish to change their sex at the Interior Ministry registry experience bureaucratic difficulties with the Health Ministry and the establishment."
Zandberg added that "as to the general public, it is an unnecessary and useless article. As the nationality clause, that did not add any relevant information and was meant to needlessly mark people, was canceled in the past, so is the sex clause in the ID irrelevant." The Meretz MK further mentioned that the bill would challenge the coalition: "On one hand Yesh Atid, who follow a fairly liberal line, and on the other Habayit Hayehudi, where some party members present a more conservative line."
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