Another Court Win!

This time it is out in Idaho.

For us having proper documentation is vital. When we apply for a job, when we are stopped by the police, when we walk in to a bar and get cared, when you are on a bus and ICE is checking IDs, there are so many times when we need our ID to reflect our true gender and not having an ID that does not show our true gender can lead to legal problems or even violence.

Idaho can no longer automatically bar trans people from altering birth certificates
Idaho Statesman
By Nicole Blanchard
March 6, 2018

Idaho officials can no longer “automatically and categorically” reject transgender individuals’ applications to change the sex listed on their birth certificates, ruled an Idaho magistrate judge for U.S. District Court on Monday.

Federal Judge Candy Dale ruled in favor of two transgender Idaho women who claimed that the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s policy of automatic rejection violated their constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

“(One plaintiff) asserts that living with a birth certificate declaring she is male is a permanent and painful reminder that Idaho does not recognize her as she is — as a woman,” court documents said.

The defendants in the lawsuit — three administrators with Health and Welfare — agreed that the automatic rejection policy was unfair, but explained they would need a court order to change that policy. Health and Welfare is required to uphold state laws with strict criteria pertaining to birth certificates and similar information.

The Huffington Post reported that,

In her ruling, Dale agreed that such discrepancies “can create risks to the health and safety of transgender people,” who the judge noted already face disproportionately high levels of discrimination. As such, barring transgender individuals from changing their birth certificates to reflect their preferred gender is “unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Dale wrote.

Though applications aren’t guaranteed to be approved, Dale said that “such applications must be reviewed and considered through a constitutionally-sound approval process.”

If an application is approved, the reissued birth certificate cannot have a record of any name changes or amendments to the assigned gender. This is to protect transgender individuals from possible discrimination.

The court order goes into effect in April.

Here in Connecticut we can change our gender marker on our birth certificate without having sterilizing surgery, we only need a letter from our therapist.