The administration of Montana Governor Greg Gianfort says transgender people cannot change their birth certificates even if they undergo gender-affirming surgery, in defiance of a court order that called for a Republican state to restrict transgender rights. The bid was temporarily blocked.
The state health department said in an emergency rule that it would no longer record the category of “gender” on people’s birth certificates, replacing that category with a list for “gender” – either male or female. – which can only be changed in rare circumstances. ,
Sex is “immutable” by law, while gender is a “social … construct” that can change over time.
“Sex is distinct from gender and is an immutable genetic fact, not modifiable even surgically,” said Adam Meier, a Gianfort appointee, Public Health and Human Services Director of Law.
According to civil rights group Lambda Legal, only Tennessee, Oklahoma and West Virginia have similar broad restrictions against birth certificate changes. According to the group, restrictions were lifted in Idaho and Ohio in 2020.
Other states have also recently sought to restrict transgender rights, including Indiana, where MLA on Tuesday Overturned its governor’s veto and banned transgender women from competing in girls’ school sports.
The ruling of the Gianfort administration was temporarily issued only a month after a state judge Blocking Enforcement of a New Montana Law It requires that transgender people undergo a “surgical procedure” before being allowed to change their gender on their birth certificate.
Judge Michael Moses ruled that the law was unconstitutionally vague because it did not specify which procedure should be performed. The law also requires transgender people to obtain a court order indicating they had a surgical procedure.
Moses’ order forced the state to revert to a process it adopted in 2017 that mandated that transgender residents could apply for a gender change on their Montana birth certificate by filing an affidavit with the Department of Health.
But state health officials said the April 21 decision had put them in “a vague and precarious position” and prompted them to prepare a temporary emergency rule.
The change exceeds restrictions on transgender rights imposed by the Republican-dominated state legislature and signed into law by Gianfort.
Shawn Rigor of the Montana Human Rights Network said the rule was “politically motivated and malicious” and would harm transgender people who want to participate fully in civil society, including in recognition of their gender.
“It is being validated and seen for who you are. But more than that, it is being able to navigate society and be active in today’s world without the threat of violence or discrimination,” Rigor said.
Democratic state lawmakers expressed outrage, calling the rule a “gross abuse of power to undermine the checks and balances of our independent courts.”
House Minority Leader Kim Abbott and Senate Minority Leader Jill Koehner said, “While this rule is intended to make the lives of our transgender neighbors difficult, it affects all of us by eliminating the rights that allow us to live our lives from government encroachment.” Let it be free.”
According to the rule, the gender list can be changed only if one’s gender has been wrongly identified at the time of one’s birth or the gender has been entered incorrectly as a result of “author error” according to the rule.
In response to questions about the new rule, the Department of Public Health and Human Services said, “All individuals should be treated with dignity and respect.”
“However,” the agency’s statement continued, “as noted in the emergency rule, the department has an obligation to ensure the accuracy of vital records.” Officials said the rule is in line with state law and addresses “a significant regulatory gap” following an April court ruling.
But attorney Akila Lane with Montana’s ACLU — which sued to block the state law — said the group would take the case back to the court of Moses.
“The court order could not have been more clear. The court ordered the state to go back to status quo,” she said. “Instead, by issuing this emergency rule, they showed their true colors – that these laws and regulations are intended to harm transgender persons.”
According to the Movement Advancement Project, a policy organization that supports transgender rights, half of US states, as well as the District of Columbia, allow transgender residents to change the gender designation on their birth certificates without surgical requirements or court orders.
Just over a dozen states require surgical intervention to change gender over birth certificates and the like. has been challenged in many states.
Many transgender people choose not to undergo gender-affirming surgery. Such procedures are sometimes deemed unnecessary or too costly, two transgender Montana residents argued in a July 2021 lawsuit challenging the Montana law.
Over the past several years, legislation in many states has aimed to limit the rights of transgender people, and the new laws are being challenged in court.
Alabama passed a law requiring doctors to prescribe treatments such as gender-affirming puberty inhibitors and hormones for transgender minors, but a judge blocked the law.
In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered child welfare officials to check parents Number of children receiving puberty barrier and other gender-affirming care as potential abusers. That attempt was blocked by a judge.
At least a dozen states have recently passed legislation to ban transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports. Recently Utah.