Hundreds of transgender New Yorkers have legally changed their gender following a rule change.

A total of 731 transgender residents of New York City have changed their legal gender following the rule change from 2014, enacted in 2015.

The City Council and the Health Department, made it easier for trans people to change their gender identity on their birth certificate.

Previously, on average, around 20 people legally changed their gender in the years before it became easier.

The Department says 55 percent of those changing their gender did so from male to female, and 45 percent legally changed from female to male.

Those taking advantage of the new rules range from five years of age to 76. Those under 18, of which there were 41, were approved with parental consent.

The city’s Health Department in 2016 issued the first intersex birth certificate.

“As jurisdictions around the country continue to adopt policies of discrimination against transgender people, it is crucial for this city to reaffirm its commitment to equality and health equity,” said Health Commissioner Dr Mary Bassett.

A transgender man in New York in December celebrated victory after being allowed to legally change his name.

Ben Stanford had previously been denied the name change petition after a lower court said he declined to provide “medical evidence” of his transition.

Earlier in 2016 a trans man sued Indiana over a law that has blocked him from changing his name.

The man was granted asylum in the US last year as “a protective step” in case he was deported to Mexico, where he could face persecution for being transgender, and is now suing Indiana because of a law that blocks him from changing his name.