Judge rejects offer from transgender plaintiffs to change their birth certificates in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by group of Tennessee-born transgender plaintiffs hoping to force the state to allow them to change the sex designations on their birth certificates.

The plaintiffs had sought to overturn a 1977 law that generally prohibits such changes. They said it unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender people and that the sex designation on their certificates is inaccurate because it does not reflect their gender identities.

The lawsuit also argued that the policy is harmful, saying that when transgender people show their birth certificates to identify themselves, the mismatch between the documents and their gender identities exposes them to potential harassment and even violence.

US District Judge Eli Richardson wrote in his decision to dismiss that while there are various definitions of “sex,” the term “has a very limited and specific meaning” for birth certificates: “external genitalia in the time of birth.”

Based on that limited definition, the designation does not become inaccurate later “when it is finally understood to diverge from the gender identity of the transgender person,” Richardson said.

The plaintiffs had argued that “sex” should be defined by gender identity.

Lambda Legal, which filed the lawsuit on his behalf, criticized the ruling in a statement and said it was evaluating possible next steps. She said the decision comes as Tennessee’s vast Republican majority is taking aim at transgender rights.

Such efforts include banning gender affirming care for minors; protect teachers who do not use transgender student pronouns from lawsuits; definition of “masculine” and “feminine” in a manner that prevents changes to driver’s licenses and birth certificates; and ban private schools from allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ sports teams.

Richardson sought to sidestep politics in his decision, writing that the case is “not the subject of a broad discussion” about transgender rights, but rather “a quiet legal dispute about the constitutionality of a specific purported policy” of the state.

The lead plaintiff, Kayla Gore, said she was devastated by the ruling that denied her and her fellow plaintiffs the chance to even plead their case.

“Tennessee’s discriminatory birth certificate policy has not only severely impacted my life, but also presents an obstacle 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 sex designation on their birth certificates. Federal courts in the other two, Kansas and Ohio, have since ruled those policies unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, states like Montana, North Dakota and Oklahoma have adopted policies like Tennessee’s, according to Lambda Legal.