Kansas Department of Health and Environment

Wichita ? Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is moving forward with a policy change that would make it harder for transgender people to change their gender on their birth certificates.

The Wichita Eagle reports that under current regulations, one can change the gender listed on his or her birth certificate by showing medical paperwork that indicates an anatomical or physiological change occurred.

The governor’s administration has proposed changing the regulations so that the gender on a person’s birth certificate can only be changed if the person signs an affidavit saying the gender was incorrectly recorded on the original certificate and also provides medical records backing up that claim.

The change developed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment seems to block transgender people from changing their birth certificates after transitioning.

“They’re trying to change the rules in the middle of the game,” said Tom Witt, the executive director of Equality Kansas, an LGBT rights group. “This has been standing in Kansas for a very long time that transgender people are able to get their birth certificates corrected.”

The department’s summary outlining the regulatory change says it’s intended to prevent allowing corrections that aren’t considered minor.

Department spokeswoman Cassie Sparks said in an email that the language of the current regulation doesn’t comply with state law.

The proposed change comes after Kansas received national attention for two bills that would restrict transgender students’ access to school bathrooms that don’t align with their recorded gender at birth. The state also faces a suit from a transgender woman over the department’s denial to update her birth certificates after her transition.

The policy change is scheduled for a hearing next month.