Montana defies judge’s order blocking state from enforcing anti-trans birth certificate rule
A judge in Montana on Thursday blocked a rule that would prevent trans people from changing the gender markers on their birth certificate — but the state has already said it will disregard the ruling.
District Court Judge Michael Moses ruled that state health officials can’t prevent transgender individuals from updating their birth certificates while Senate Bill 280 is challenged in court.
According to SB 280, a trans person can only change their gender makers if the state’s department of public health and human services receives a court order “indicating that the sex of the person born in Montana has been changed by surgical procedure” — which can be either unnecessary or cost-prohibitive to many people.
In April, the judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of the law, but last week the state enacted a permanent rule that would ban any changes to a person’s gender marker, except to correct a clerical error.
Montana District Judge Michael Moses gestures during a court hearing over a state health department rule that prevents transgender people from changing their birth certificates, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in Billings, Mont. Moses struck down the rule at the conclusion of the hearing. (Matthew Brown/)
The American Civil Liberties Union and its Montana affiliate asked the judge to clarify his April order.
On Thursday, Moses said that state officials did violate his earlier order, reinstating the state’s 2017 rule that allowed people to update the gender on their birth certificate by filing an affidavit with the department.
“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,” the ACLU and the private law firm of Nixon Peabody said in a joint statement early Thursday afternoon.
BREAKING: A judge has blocked Montana’s effort to deny trans people the right to amend their birth certificates.
Trans people know who we are. This is a big win against a baseless effort to circumvent the courts and discriminate against trans people.— ACLU (@ACLU) September 15, 2022
“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 added.
However, just hours after Moses’ ruling, Charlie Brereton, director of the Montana DPHHS, said that rule issued on Sept. 9 would remain “in effect.”
FILE - Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Montana State Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation on March 15, 2021, in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge /)
“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,” Bereton said.
Malita Picasso, an attorney with the ACLU, called the agency’s stance “shocking.”
“It was very clear that Judge Moses expressly required a reversion to the 2017 policy, and anything short of that is a continued flagrant violation of the court’s order,” she said.
With News Wire Services
