No 'fundamental right' to change sex on birth certificate, federal appeals court rules
A Tennessee law that prevents trans-identified residents from changing the sex marker on their birth certificates to reflect their self-declared gender identity is not a violation of the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state of Tennessee in a 2-1 decision, ruling against plaintiffs Kayla Gore, L.G., K.N. and Jaime Combs. The four plaintiffs are men who identify as women who sought to change the sex on their birth certificates.
Writing for the majority opinion, Judge Jeffrey Sutton stated that "there is no fundamental right to a birth certificate recording gender identity instead of biological sex." The judge wrote that the Tennessee law treats both sexes equally, and the state recording sex instead of gender identity on birth certificates "does not withhold a constitutionally prescribed benefit."
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"Tennessee's decision to abide by its long-standing approach to the issue hardly amounts to unequal protection of the laws, even under the most soaring generality of those terms," Sutton, a George W. Bush appointee, stated.
The judge noted that 11 states currently allow trans-identified individuals to change the sex listed on their birth certificate to reflect their self-declared gender identity. Sutton advised federal courts to be careful about "freezing in time just one new approach to a difficult policy issue."
Regarding the plaintiffs' discrimination claim, Sutton concluded that the individuals failed to show that Tennesse's law is the result of hatred against trans-identified people, noting that the policy "long predates medical diagnoses of gender dysphoria."
"The States have considerable discretion in defining the terms used in their own laws and in deciding what records to keep," the judge wrote. "Tennessee did not exceed that discretion in distinguishing biological sex from gender identity in its birth certificate records."
Judge Amul Thapar, a Trump appointee, joined Sutton on the majority opinion. Senior Judge Helene White, also a Bush appointee, wrote the dissenting opinion.
"[T]he State denigrates those who do not conform to societal assumptions about what it means to be male or female, like transgender individuals, conveying that they are somehow less male or female because of the accidents of their birth — that no matter what, in the eyes of the State, their genitalia at birth alone determine their identities forevermore," White wrote.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti praised the ruling, saying each state should decide whether an individual can change the sex on their birth certificate.
"While other states have taken different approaches, for decades Tennessee has consistently recognized that a birth certificate records a biological fact of a child being male or female and has never addressed gender identity," Skrmetti stated. "We are grateful that the Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that any change in Tennessee's policy can only come from the people of Tennessee."
Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, senior counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal, an LGBT legal group that represented the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment with the decision in a Friday statement published by The Tennessean.
"The discrimination that is being suffered by transgender people in present-day America is something that, frankly, is reprehensible and shameful," Gonzalez-Pagan said. "I hope that this decision doesn't give fodder to that, but rather allows us to galvanize to ensure that we can have a more inclusive and protective set of laws and policies."
The federal appeals court ruling follows the U.S. Supreme Court's announcement earlier this year that it will hear an appeal in a case about whether Tennessee can prohibit sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers for minors.
Tennessee passed Senate Bill 1 last March, a law that prohibits providers from offering life-changing interventions to minors who express confusion about their sex. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal were two of the legal groups that sued the state over the new law. The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a complaint on behalf of trans-identified minors and their families.
While a lower court temporarily blocked the law from taking effect through a preliminary injunction, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit later allowed the measure to take effect.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
