Colorado panel OKs birth certificate bill

A Colorado House committee has advanced a bill allowing persons to more easily obtain birth certificates reflecting their gender identity.

The House Health & Insurance Committee approved the bill by a 7-4 vote on Wednesday. It now goes to the House floor.

The bill is sponsored by Democrats Rep. Daneya Esgar and Sen. Dominick Moreno.

It would allow persons to obtain new birth certificates reflecting their updated gender identity instead of amended ones available under current law.

It would eliminate requirements that transgender and intersex individuals obtain court orders indicating that their sex has been changed by surgical procedure.

And it would eliminate a requirement that persons obtain court orders and submit public notices for a legal name change.

Similar bills were introduced in previous years but were blocked by Republicans in the Senate. Democrats took over that chamber in November.