On Thursday, two transgender women sued the state of Montana and several state agencies over a 2022 policy that forbids people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates.
The lawsuit is contesting SB 280, which restricts changes in sex designation on birth certificates to cases where the person has undergone a surgical procedure to change their sex.
The plaintiffs took issue with the policy of the Montana Motor Vehicle Division that now prohibits applicants from changing the sex designation on their driver’s license. This change affects transgender individuals who were previously able to do so by providing a letter from a doctor.
“I am incredibly frustrated that even though I can now live as the woman I truly am, my birth state of Montana still requires me to carry a birth certificate that inaccurately states my sex as male,” expressed Jessica Kalarchik, a transgender veteran and one of the plaintiffs involved in the case.
Akilah Deernose, executive director for the ACLU of Montana, emphasized the importance of privacy and the freedom to live without interference from the government in Montana.
Montana seems to be ignoring the valuable lessons learned from recent years, during which courts have consistently deemed unconstitutional laws aimed at transgender individuals in the state.
In February, Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services announced that it would only accept applications to amend the sex designation on birth certificates under specific circumstances. These include cases where the individual’s sex was mistakenly identified at birth or if there were errors made by the person responsible for recording the information.
The agency has stated that it will not make any changes to a birth certificate in regards to “gender transition, gender identity, or change of gender.” This is in accordance with the provisions outlined in SB 458, which defines sex as being determined by biological and genetic factors indicating male or female.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, a member of the Republican party, officially approved SB 458 in May of last year. The governor’s office made it clear that transgender individuals have the freedom to identify with the gender they feel most comfortable with, while acknowledging that this does not change their biological sex.
In 2021, SB 280 encountered a legal challenge soon after its implementation. District Court Judge Michael Moses from Billings issued a preliminary injunction and instructed the state to refrain from enforcing the law.
