On Thursday, a lawyer representing a group of transgender women urged a U.S. appeals court to revive claims alleging that Tennessee’s decades-old policy of not permitting individuals born in the state to amend their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity violates the U.S. Constitution.
A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Nashville heard arguments in the appeal of four plaintiffs challenging a judge’s ruling, which stated that birth certificates are simply historical records that do not implicate the constitutional rights of the women.
Tennessee is one of the few states that outright prohibits individuals from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates. While most states allow changes for transgender individuals who have undergone medical procedures for transition, some permit self-reporting of sex.
Omar Gonzalez-Pagan of LGBTQ group Lambda Legal told the 6th Circuit panel that birth certificates are crucial identifying documents used for school enrollment, job applications, passports, and government services. “Having a birth certificate that inaccurately portrays who you are itself causes harm,” he stated. “It communicates to the person that the state doesn’t recognize them for who they are.”
The lawsuit alleges that Tennessee’s ban on amending birth certificates violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.
Judge skeptical of State’s argument
During the hearing, Circuit Judge Helene White seemed skeptical of claims by J. Matthew Rice, arguing for the state, that Tennessee uses birth certificates to maintain accurate data crucial for public health research. “I feel that it’s somewhat narrow to say this is just a record of how you appeared at birth,” White commented. “It stays with you for the rest of your life.”
Circuit Judges Jeffrey Sutton and Amul Thapar expressed concerns about practical issues with the state’s policy. Thapar suggested that a law passed last year, which prohibits changing sex on driver’s licenses and other documents, may indicate animus toward transgender people, potentially influencing the birth certificate policy.
Rice maintained that the new law was irrelevant to the appeal and determining the motives behind the longstanding ban on amending birth certificates.
Lambda Legal’s appeal of a ruling upholding a similar Oklahoma law is currently under consideration by the Denver-based 10th Circuit, while the Montana Supreme Court is deliberating on whether to block a state rule limiting alterations to birth certificates. In 2020, a federal judge in Ohio blocked the state’s ban on altering sex on birth certificates.
