City won't recognize man's masculinity

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A former Marine's lawsuit against New York says a hospital mix-up listed him as female on his birth certificate and the city is refusing to correct the error.

David Hassan, 29, filed a lawsuit in city Supreme Court saying the mistake on his birth certificate was not noticed until 2003, when he was denied a new ID by a clerk who noticed the error, the New York Post reported Thursday.

"I am not, nor have I ever been, female," he said.

Hassan's suit says he didn't do anything about the mistake at the time because he had to return to active duty and his mother attempted to have it fixed, but she "was advised that because this was a hospital error, a letter was necessary from Lenox Hill Hospital stating that the mistake on the birth certificate was the result of hospital error."

The suit says Lenox Hill issued a letter in 2007 saying the gender should be changed, but it refused to admit it made a mistake "for liability reasons."

"I was told by the personnel there (the Division of Vital Statistics) that without an admission of error by the hospital they would not issue a corrected birth certificate," Hassan said.

Connie Pankratz, a spokeswoman for the city Law Department, said officials "trust that an appropriate resolution can be reached."

A spokeswoman for Lenox Hill said the hospital is working to resolve the issue.