When Coonan enrolled his first-born son into a Brisbane daycare in late 2019, he asked they disregard the birth certificate and refer to him as the boy’s dad. Despite his legal efforts to have it changed, the document still listed Coonan as his mother.
“I had to submit myself to their generosity as to whether they were going to accept my identity as I presented it, or if they were going to insist that they had to be consistent with the government,” Coonan, who did not want his full name published, said.
