Montana To Severely Restrict Changes Of Sex On Birth Certificates

Health officials in the US state of Montana have adopted a proposed rule change regarding the identification of sex on state-issued birth certificates, which now excludes changes following gender confirmation surgeries.

The rule change by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, now makes it virtually impossible for transgender people to change the sex on their birth certificate by now only allowing changes under very limited circumstances, according to CNN.

The latest developments in Montana are part of a broader effort by conservatives to make it more difficult for transgender Americans to change their birth certificates and other identification documents to match their gender identity. In April, Oklahoma enacted a law that bans nonbinary gender markers on birth certificates in the state.

Sex recorded on a birth certificate can now only be changed if it was listed incorrectly on the original certificate “as a result of a scrivener’s error or a data entry error” or if “the sex of the individual was misidentified on the original certificate and the department receives a correction affidavit and supporting documents […] including a copy of the results of chromosomal, molecular, karyotypic, DNA, or genetic testing that identify the sex of the individual.”

In 2021, Greg Gianforte, the state’s Republican governor, signed into law SB 280, requiring transgender Montanans to undergo a “surgical procedure” if they wanted to amend their birth certificates’ sex designations to match their gender identity. Under the rule change adopted Friday, transgender people would not be able to change their birth certificates even if they have gender confirmation surgery.

In April, a state judge ruled that the state had to pause its enforcement of the law, allowing Montanans wishing to change the sex designations on their birth certificates to continue doing so by submitting a gender-designation form to the public health and human services department.

Read related myGwork articles here:

Montana Defies Court Order To Allow Trans People To Correct Gender Markers On Birth Certificates

Montana Enacts Anti-LGBT+ Education Law Limiting Teaching On Gender And Sexuality

Montana Legislators Pass Two Bills Targeting Trans Youth

Montana Republicans Target Trans Youth In Two New Bills

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