Global Courant
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday issued a lawsuit filed by a group of Tennessee-born transgender plaintiffs hoping to force the state to let them change the gender designations on their birth certificates.
The plaintiffs had sought to overturn a 1977 law that generally prohibited such changes. They said it unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender people and that the gender designation on their certificates is inaccurate because it does not reflect their gender identity.
The lawsuit also argued that the policy is harmful, saying that when transgender people present their birth certificates for identification, the discrepancy between the documents and their gender identity exposes them to potential harassment and even violence.
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson wrote in his dismissal decision that while there are several definitions of “sex,” the term “has a very narrow and specific meaning” for birth records: “external genitalia at the time of birth.”
Based on that narrow definition, the designation doesn’t become inaccurate later on “when it is ultimately understood to deviate from the transgender’s gender identity,” Richardson said.
Prosecutors had argued that “sex” should be defined by gender identity.
Lambda Legal, which filed the lawsuit on their behalf, criticized the ruling in a statement and said it was evaluating possible next steps. It said the decision comes as Tennessee’s vast majority of Republicans focus on transgender rights.
Such efforts include prohibition gender affirming care for minors; protecting teachers who do not use transgender students’ pronouns from lawsuits; definition of “masculine” and “feminine” in a way that prevents driver’s licenses and birth certificate changes; and banning private schools from allowing transgender girls to compete on female sports teams.
Richardson tried to sidestep politics in his decision, writing that the case is “not grist for broad discussion” about transgender rights, but rather “a discreet legal dispute over the constitutionality of a specific alleged policy” of the state.
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Chief Prosecutor Kayla Gore said she was devastated by the ruling that denied her and her co-plaintiffs the chance to even argue their case.
“Tennessee’s discriminatory birth certificate policies have not only had a serious impact on my life, but are also a roadblock for all transgender Tennesseans,” she said in a statement.
When the lawsuit was filed in 2019, Tennessee was one of three states that did not allow transgender people to change the gender designation on their birth certificates. Since then, federal courts in the other two, Kansas and Ohio, have ruled that policy unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, states including Montana, North Dakota and Oklahoma have adopted policies like Tennessee’s, according to Lambda Legal.
