The state of Montana said it will defy a court order that would halt a state law preventing transgender people from changing their gender on their birth certificate.
Judge Michael Moses ordered the state to follow the 2017 state Department of Public Health and Human Services rule allowing transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificate by filling out paperwork, halting the 2021 law that rolled back the ability to make those amendments.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, along with the ACLU Foundation LGBTQ & HIV Project and Nixon Peabody LLP, celebrated the ruling, which affirmed Moses’s previous orders for the state to follow the 2017 law.
“We’re thankful the court saw the state’s discriminatory new rule for what it was: a desperate effort to circumvent the judicial process and target transgender Montanans. Forcing anyone to carry documents that contradict their identity is unjust and unconstitutional, and such a rule marks transgender people for further mistreatment and discrimination. We’ll continue to fight this baseless law until no transgender person is denied this fundamental right,” the statement said.
Despite the ruling once again halting the 2021 law that undid the 2017 law, the state told the Associated Press it will still restrict the ability for transgender people to change their birth certificate.
“The Department thoroughly evaluated the judge’s vague April 2022 decision and crafted our final rule to be consistent with the decision. It’s unfortunate that the judge’s ruling today does not square with his vague April decision. The 2022 final rule that the Department issued on September 9 remains in effect, and we are carefully considering next steps,” Charlie Brereton, director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said in a statement.
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The injunction from the judge has not prevented the state from attempting to enforce restrictions on changing birth certificates, but a final ruling from the judge in the case providing more permanent relief is still to come.
