What’s New
A Montana state judge has temporarily blocked a rule that barred transgender people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses.
District Judge Mike Menahan issued the order on Monday, pausing enforcement of the rule as the case proceeds through the courts.
Why It Matters
One rule in Montana prohibits transgender people born in the state from changing the sex designation on their birth certificate.
A separate policy bars transgender residents from updating the sex on their driver’s licenses unless they provide an amended birth certificate—which is unattainable for those born in Montana.
What to Know
The case, filed in April by two transgender women, argues on behalf of themselves and others who have been unable to obtain documents that “accurately reflect their sex,” according to the complaint.
Birth certificates and driver’s licenses are essential for activities like applying for marriage licenses, passports, voting, or even purchasing a hunting license, said Alex Rate, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, during a hearing last month.
Rate said that requiring transgender individuals to present documents that do not match their gender identity effectively forces them to “out” themselves as transgender.
“The state cannot articulate any legitimate interest in restricting access to accurate identity documents, much less a compelling one,” Rate argued.
The state said that sex is binary—either male or female—and claimed that being transgender does not make someone part of a constitutionally protected class with privacy rights.
“The right to privacy does not include a right to replace an objective fact of biological sex on a government document,” said Assistant Attorney General Alwyn Lansing.
The hearing marked the latest development in a series of laws, policies, and court challenges stemming from Republican-led efforts in Montana to restrict transgender rights.
State officials have defended the bans on updating identity documents, citing the need to maintain accurate statistical records and saying that while gender identity may change, a person’s biological sex cannot.
What People Are Saying
Menahan said that it was not yet necessary to decide whether transgender Montanans qualify as a suspect class based on their transgender status.
He rejected the state’s claim that discrimination based on transgender status does not constitute sex-based discrimination.
“If the challenged state actions discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their transgender status, they also necessarily discriminate on the basis of sex,” he wrote.
Plaintiff Jessica Kalarchik, who was born in Montana, expressed frustration, saying that while she is able to “live my life openly as the woman I know myself to be,” the state “wants me to carry around a birth certificate that incorrectly lists my sex as male.”
What Happens Next
The rule will be blocked temporarily while the case moves through the courts, and a verdict is made on whether transgender people can change the sex designation on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press
The post Court Blocks Ban on Sex Changes in IDs for Trans Residents appeared first on Newsweek.
