Two transgender people filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana and other state agencies Thursday over the state's refusal to alter their birth certificates to match their stated gender identify, The Hill reported.
The court filing cites Jessica Kalarchik and Jane Doe as co-plaintiffs in the suit that challenges a 2022 policy prohibiting individuals from amending birth certificates and other records of birth.
"Sex is different from gender and is an immutable fact, which is not changeable, even by surgery," read the ruling which overruled a 2021 law permitting changes in one's birth certificate in cases where the individual has had surgery.
The suit seeks an injunction from the policies and practices that "make it impossible for transgender people born in Montana to obtain birth certificates, or for transgender people in Montana to obtain driver's licenses, that accurately reflect their sex."
The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Montana, and Nixon Peabody LLP.
"After finally being able to live my life openly as the woman I know myself to be, I am frustrated that my birth state, Montana, is forcing me to carry around a birth certificate that incorrectly lists my sex as male," Kalarchik said in a statement. "I am being forced to use a birth certificate that is inaccurate and that places me at risk of discrimination and harassment whenever I have to present it."
Kaitlin Price, press secretary for Gov. Greg Gianforte, told the Montana Free Press the current law protects "people born intersex" and does not infringe on "transgender individuals' ability to identify with whatever gender, but not sex, they wish."
The ACLU's Malita Picasso disagreed.
"Forcing anyone to carry documents that contradict their identity violates their right to privacy and is unjust discrimination and unconstitutionally compelled speech," Picasso said.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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