Gender rule: Ohio must allow birth-certificate changes nydailynews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nydailynews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A federal court says Ohio can’t keep refusing to allow people to change the gender listings on their birth certificates.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio says the birth certificate rule imposed by the state Department of Health and the Office of Vital Statistics is unconstitutional. Ohio was weighing an appeal.
Judge Michael Watson rejected the state of Ohio’s arguments that the policy prevents fraud and maintains historical accuracy as “thinly veiled” excuses for discrimination.
Plaintiff Stacie Ray claimed victory for the LGBT community. Ohio was one of the last two states to prohibit such changes.
A federal judge in Columbus has sided with transgender residents who sought to overturn a state policy blocking them from changing sex markers on their birth certificates.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson granted summary judgment Wednesday to four transgender individuals, noting that the state had allowed such birth certificate changes in years past.
The policy, Watson wrote, “resembles the sort of discrimination-based legislation struck down under the equal protection clause… as nothing more than a policy ‘born of animosity toward the class of person affected’ that has ‘no rational relation to a legitimate government purpose.
He added, The court finds defendants policy to be unconstitutional and hereby permanently enjoins defendants from enforcing their policy.
Court: Ohio must allow gender changes on birth certificates
In response to a lawsuit brought by four transgender people, a federal court found Ohio’s birth certificate rule unconstitutional. The state is likely to appeal.
Credit: Getty Images Published: 4:57 PM EST December 16, 2020 Updated: 5:13 PM EST December 16, 2020
Ohio can’t keep refusing to allow people to change the gender listings on their birth certificates, a federal court ruled Wednesday.
In response to a lawsuit brought by four transgender people, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio found Ohio’s birth certificate rule imposed by the state Department of Health and the Office of Vital Statistics is unconstitutional.
2020/12/17 05:13 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio can’t keep refusing to allow people to change the gender listings on their birth certificates, a federal court ruled Wednesday. In response to a lawsuit brought by four transgender people, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio found Ohio’s birth certificate rule imposed by the state Department of Health and the Office of Vital Statistics is unconstitutional. The state is likely to appeal. Judge Michael Watson rejected the state of Ohio s arguments that the policy helped prevent fraud and maintain a historically accurate record of its citizenry. He called such justifications nothing more than thinly veiled post-hoc rationales to deflect from the discriminatory impact of the policy.”