State and territory Premiers have been urged to take action to scrap Australia’s cruel “forced transgender divorce” laws as soon as possible.

In all states and territories except South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, couples who enter an opposite-sex marriage before one partner transitions are forced to divorce before the trans partner can update the sex marker on their birth certificate.

Advocates say the requirement cruelly puts trans Australians in the position of having to choose between a divorce or inaccurate official records.

The federal same-sex marriage bill, passed last month, addresses the divorce requirement with an important change to the federal Sex Discrimination Act making it unlawful for state governments to refuse to change the certificates of trans people who are married.

But the marriage bill gives a 12 month window “to provide states and territories with such laws with an opportunity to amend their legislation.”

This week, representatives from national advocacy group Trans Health Australia wrote to leaders in all states and territories with the laws asking for them to be scrapped when their respective parliaments resume.

The letters, signed by Trans Health Australia’s Melody Moore and Zoey Campbell, explain that marriage equality will not be fully achieved until the laws are repealed.

“This cruel transgender divorce requirement has undermined our families and discriminated against transgender partners and parents by making them choose between their marriage or legal recognition of their identity,” the letters read. Read more via Qnews