The first gender-neutral birth certificate in Newfoundland and Labrador, and possibly the first in Canada, was issued December 14, 2017, to Gemma Hickey, a non-binary resident of St. John's, the province's capital. Hickey, an award-winning activist, had launched court action seeking to compel the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to issue the gender-neutral certificate after their application for such a document was rejected because the application form was limited to male or female designation only. Hickey withdrew the court action after the government agreed to amend the Vital Statistics Act to authorize the issuing of gender-neutral birth certificates. That amendment received Royal Assent on December 7, 2017.