Year of the Monkey

[gotmilk]

Want to save thousands of dollars on your car insurance ?

‘I am now a woman’: Man changes birth certificate to save on car insurance

"I just saved a bunch of money by switching genders."

A man in Alberta, Canada, tells the CBC that he wanted to buy a new Chevy Cruze, but being a male and in his early 20s, and with a less-than-perfect driving record, he was shocked at the cost of insurance — he was quoted $4,500 a year.

So he became a woman.

OK, biologically he remains a man. There were no surgeries and he doesn't literally identify as female. But the man, named by the broadcaster only as David, says he changed his gender to female on his government-issued identification. Wait, how's that? "I have taken advantage of a loophole," he says. More on that in a moment.

He got the idea when, stunned by that $4,500 quote, he asked the insurance agent what coverage would cost if he were a woman. The answer: $3,400.

"I was pretty angry about that. And I didn't feel like getting screwed over any more," he said. "So I asked them to change my gender on my auto policy, and she's like, we can't do that."

So he found another way. Alberta is one of several Canadian provinces where residents can legally change the sex on their birth certificates by just checking a different box. You simply need a note from a doctor or psychologist saying you identify as a different gender.

"It was pretty simple. I just basically asked for it and told (the doctor) that I identify as a woman, or I'd like to identify as a woman, and he wrote me the letter I wanted," David told CBC. It was a lie, of course, but once you've gotten your birth certificate amended, it's a snap to get your driver's license changed, and then bring on those sweet savings in that sweet, sweet Chevy Cruze. Worth it, right?

David thinks so. "I am now a woman ... I now pay $1,100 less for auto insurance. I won. The end," he wrote on Reddit.

The point of the birth certificate law wasn't to pull a fast one on the insurance companies, but rather to make it easier for the transgender community, who presumably until now were the only people interested in this law. Actually, there was a right-wing provocateur named Lauren Southern who changed her sex to male to mock Ontario's similar law, and David indicates he got the idea from her, though he is quick to add that he is supportive of transgender people. "I did it for cheaper car insurance."
.