Judge Hears Case Over Montana Rule Preventing Transgender Residents from Changing Gender on Birth Certificates

HELENA – A state judge in Montana heard arguments Thursday about policies that prevent transgender people from changing the gender designation on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

District Court Judge Mike Menahan did not immediately rule on the request for a preliminary injunction to block these bans while the case continues in the courts.

“We are here today to challenge these defendants’ latest manifestation of (the state’s) unique obsession with singling out transgender Montanans for unequal treatment and discrimination,” said Alex Rather, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana.

The lawsuit was filed in April by two transgender women on behalf of themselves and others who were unable to obtain documents that “accurately reflect their gender,” the complaint said.

One rule in the state prevents transgender individuals He was born in Montana with the gender name changed on his birth certificate. Another policy prevents transgender people from changing the gender on their driver’s license without an amended birth certificate, which they cannot obtain if they were born in Montana.

Birth certificates and driver’s licenses are required to apply for marriage licenses, passports, to vote and even to purchase hunting licenses, Rate said, and every time a transgender person must present a document that does not accurately reflect their gender, they are forced to “out” themselves as transgender. They are having a hard time.

The state argued that gender is a binary concept, male or female, and that being transgender is not a protected class of person whose constitutional rights to privacy could be violated.

“The right to privacy does not include the right to have an objective fact of biological sex altered in a government document,” assistant attorney general Alwyn Lansing said on behalf of the state. he said.

The hearing is the latest in a series of laws, rules and legal challenges to efforts by Republicans in Montana to limit the rights of transgender residents. The government has used a variety of justifications for prohibiting changes to identification documents, such as requiring accurate statistical records or saying that even if someone’s gender identity can be changed, their biological sex cannot be changed.

“The State cannot express any legitimate interest, nor even a compelling interest, in restricting access to correct identification documents,” Rather said.

In late 2017, under Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, the state health department implemented a rule allowing people to change the gender on their birth certificates by signing an affidavit.

In 2021, Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte introduced a law saying transgender people cannot change the gender on their birth certificates without surgery. That law was announced unconstitutionally vague Because it was not specified which surgery was required. The state was ordered to revert to the 2017 rule.

But in response, the health department, now led by Republicans, passed a rule that says no one can change the gender on their birth certificate unless they correct a typo.

Montana Legislature passes a law in 2023 Definition of the word “sex” It is considered only male or female in state law and is based on the person’s assigned sex at birth. The law that defined “sex” was: overturned on the grounds that it was unconstitutional Because its title didn’t fully explain its purpose, the ACLU argues that the state is still using it to set policy on driver’s licenses.

The ACLU asked Judge Menahan to temporarily block the rule and policy and order the state to reinstate a 2017 rule allowing transgender people to change the gender designation on their birth certificates by filing an affidavit.

Montana is one of seven states that do not allow people to change the gender on their birth certificates. Twenty-five states allow this; 15 of these offer the option to list male, female or X. A dozen states allow birth certificate changes following gender-affirming surgical procedures, according to the Movement for Progress Project.

Thirty states allow people to change their gender on their driver’s license. Montana is among 16 states undergoing what MAP calls a “challenging process.” Four states do not allow a person to change their gender on their driver’s license.

Montana lawmakers pass bill in 2023 blocking gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. that law temporarily blocked In September 2023 – just before it comes into force. The judge said it was likely unconstitutional and would harm the mental and physical health of minors with gender dysphoria, rather than protecting them from experimental treatments as supporters say.

The judge also found that the legal record on the medical care bill was “rife with hostility toward transgender individuals.” The state appealed the injunction to the Montana Supreme Court, which has yet to rule.