All of the records we're discussing have to do with the historical need
to keep track of property and inheritance - think England 5-600 years
ago. The use and existence of these records is a legal construct, along
the lines of recording marriages and divorces. We no longer have
primogeniture and the limbo-like existence of illegitimate children, but
it nonetheless helps with property claims to have records of births,
parents, etc. When a person is adopted, the relationship with the birth
parents is officially declared nonexistent. It never was. The adoptive
parents are and legally always were the only parents. The courts can
rewrite history in some circumstances, adoption and annulment among
them. The rationale for the transgender changes as well as (in part)
the adoption changes is protection of the privacy of the individuals
involved. If we were, as a society, more comfortable with adoption and
gender reassignment we probably wouldn't feel the need to protect
privacy in those instances because there would be no shame attached.
We're not there yet. Think of how we don't release the names of sexual
assault victims.
Our relationships are "verified" by the legal system, no matter how much
we may think of them as personal. And that which gives can take away -
names, birthplaces, parents, etc. Records are as permanent as the law
needs them to be.
Margie
Margaret M. deMarteleire
HR/FLSA Analyst
CDI Corporation
1717 Arch Street, 35th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 636-1219
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of DuWayne Headrick
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 9:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Transgender student records
As the Records Management Officer for 15 years at a School District in
Texas I had never given this subject a thought until it happened twice
in the last two years. I agree with Larry's thought that the records
(transcripts) should not have been changed because when the student
graduated he or she was what they were at the time of graduation. I
felt we should just add copies of the court documents to their education
records.
In both cases we received a Court Order Granting Change of Name of
Adult, specifically stating that all public documents be changed to
reflect new name and gender, to include birth certificates. To me this
seems ludicrous. Oh well, we obey the wishes and all student
educational records still in existence are changed.
DuWayne Headrick
Records Management Officer
Northside ISD
210-397-8574
[log in to unmask]
>>> [log in to unmask] 11/14/08 2:28 PM >>>
Wow... now HERE'S a touchy subject!!
My initial thought is how/why would the records from the past (prior to
the
surgery, etc.) ever be changed and how could this be done
legitimately???
The record is related to the person's identity at the time it was
created
and once it's changed, it's a new record, right? And the student
existed
under another name/identity at the time they (the records) were
created, right?
When a person gets married or divorced, their records don't get
changed.
And Angie mentioned that they would potentially be changed if the
birth
certificate was changed, but do counties and/or states make changes of
this
type to vital records, because the legal system is supposed to ensure
that
the official record remains unchanged.
The person was born as who they were, that doesn't EVER change,
regardless
of what other aspects of their being might.
The only cases I'm aware of where something of this nature happens is
in
witness protection cases, but even then, the records are simply sealed
and/or custody of them is transferred to the controlling agency... and
there
are numerous cases documented where although the physical records were
sealed, they made an "oopsie!" and failed to expunge the microfilm
copies of
the record, or if the individual was old enough to be in the physical
bound
record log books, failed to redact those records.
As a number of folks here will tell you, I'm as (if not MORE) liberal
than
the next guy... but a record is a record, and I don't see any
legitimate
reason that it be changed in this case.
Larry
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