--- type: "Bill" title: "Change of gender and sex identifier." description: "(1) Existing law authorizes a person to file a petition with the superior court seeking a judgment recognizing their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary, including a person who is under 18 years of age. The judgment may include an order for a new birth certificate, and the new birth certificate is required to include the change of gender and any name change specified in the court order. Existing law also authorizes a procedure for a person born in this state to obtain a new birth certificate directly from the State Registrar to reflect their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary without a court order. Existing law prohibits a new birth certificate issued under these provisions from indicating that it is not the original birth certificate and requires a local registrar or the county recorder to either forward a copy of the original birth certificate to the State Registrar or seal a cover over the copy of the original birth certificate, as specified." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20212022" identifier: "AB 218" citation: "California AB 218 (20212022)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Change of gender and sex identifier."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Ward"] version_count: 8 action_count: 28 vote_count: 9 first_action: "2021-01-11" last_action: "2021-10-06" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d7ad7f5e-7b61-49e7-9ad2-9c910317fdf6" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218" source_hash: "c33be279bca16517da9c29a16e43ee4fcfb47f9425f545157650e0e13481ff28" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"] --- # California AB 218 (20212022) — Change of gender and sex identifier. (1) Existing law authorizes a person to file a petition with the superior court seeking a judgment recognizing their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary, including a person who is under 18 years of age. The judgment may include an order for a new birth certificate, and the new birth certificate is required to include the change of gender and any name change specified in the court order. Existing law also authorizes a procedure for a person born in this state to obtain a new birth certificate directly from the State Registrar to reflect their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary without a court order. Existing law prohibits a new birth certificate issued under these provisions from indicating that it is not the original birth certificate and requires a local registrar or the county recorder to either forward a copy of the original birth certificate to the State Registrar or seal a cover over the copy of the original birth certificate, as specified. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **01/11/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21899INT) 2. **03/16/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21898AMD) 3. **05/24/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21897AMD) 4. **08/26/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21896AMD) 5. **09/03/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21895AMD) 6. **10/06/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21893CHP) 7. **AB218** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218) 8. **09/13/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB218&version=20210AB21894ENR) ## Votes - 3rd Reading AB218 Ward et al. By Rubio — **29–9** (pass) · upper - Do pass as amended — **5–2** (pass) · upper - AB 218 Ward Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **60–13** (pass) · lower - Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–1** (pass) · upper - Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Health] — **8–3** (pass) · lower - AB 218 Ward Assembly Third Reading — **60–15** (pass) · lower - Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Health] — **9–2** (pass) · upper - Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass as amended. — **12–4** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Ward — primary (person) - Gabriel — coauthor (person) - Rubio — coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2021-01-11** Read first time. To print. `reading-1` - **2021-01-12** From printer. May be heard in committee February 11. - **2021-01-28** Referred to Coms. on JUD. and HEALTH. `referral-committee` - **2021-03-16** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-03-17** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee` - **2021-03-23** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 8. Noes 3.) (March 23). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee` - **2021-04-15** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. `referral-committee` - **2021-04-28** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee` - **2021-05-20** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (May 20). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage` - **2021-05-24** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-05-25** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-06-01** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 60. Noes 15. Page 1750.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2021-06-02** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1` - **2021-06-09** Referred to Coms. on JUD. and HEALTH. `referral-committee` - **2021-06-30** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 9. Noes 2. Page 1715.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee` - **2021-07-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (July 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee` - **2021-08-16** In committee: Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee` - **2021-08-26** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 26). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage` - **2021-08-26** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-08-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-09-03** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2021-09-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-09-08** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 9. Page 2532.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2021-09-08** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. - **2021-09-09** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 13. Page 2968.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2021-09-17** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m. - **2021-10-06** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2021-10-06** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 577, Statutes of 2021. `became-law` ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d7ad7f5e-7b61-49e7-9ad2-9c910317fdf6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).