A Montana state judge temporarily blocked policies which prevented transgender individuals from changing their sex designations on their birth certificates or driver’s licences.

District Judge Mike Menahan’s order, issued Monday, blocks the rule until the case is resolved.

Menahan stated that it is not necessary to determine at this stage of the litigation whether transgender Montanans are a special group based on their transgender identity. However, he disagreed the state’s claim that discrimination based on transgender identity does not constitute discrimination sex-based.

He wrote: “If state actions are discriminatory against transgender people on the basis that they are transgender, then they must also be discriminatory on the basis sex.”

1776 Coalition Sponsored Is Israel’s fate tied to Syria? Syria has fallen, but we are still far from seeing the last of the hostages returned. Our brave soldiers must fight to secure Israel’s borders, rid the region of emboldened attackers all over the Middle East, and adapt to the escalating threats from Syria, but Israel doesn’t have enough supplies to properly win this war. Can you support our IDF sons and daughters as they continue fighting for the Survival of the Promised Land?.

The complaint stated that two transgenders filed the case in April on behalf of others who were unable to get documents “that accurately reflected their sex” and themselves.

A Montana law prohibits transgender individuals from changing their birth certificates. Transgender residents are prohibited from changing their sex on driver’s licences without an amended certificate of birth. They cannot get this if they were not born in Montana.

Jessica Kalarchik said that Montana wanted her to carry a birth certificate listing her sex incorrectly as male. She was upset that Montana would not allow her to “live my life as the woman that I am.”

Alex Rate, the legal counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana argued that birth certificates and drivers’ licenses were required to apply for marriage licenses, passports, to vote, or to even buy a hunting licence, last month. Transgender people are forced to “out themselves” every time they have to provide a document which does not accurately reflect who they are.

The state argued that gender is binary – either male or feminine – and that transgender people are not protected by the constitution.

Alwyn Lansing, Assistant Attorney General for the State, argued that “the right to privacy doesn’t include a right of replacing an objective fact about biological sex in a government document.”

Chase Scheuer, spokesperson of the Department of Justice which includes the Motor Vehicle Division, stated: “The judiciary once again has defied democratic will of Montanans, siding with special interests groups and the radical leftist ideology.”

Jon Ebelt, a spokesperson for the state health department that issues birth certificates, said they do not comment on any pending lawsuits.

This case is part of a long line of laws, rules, and legal challenges that Republicans have brought against transgender residents in Montana and other states. The state has used a variety of justifications to ban changes to identification documents. These include the need for accurate statistics or saying that someone’s biological gender cannot be changed, but their gender identity can.

Rate said during an October hearing in front of Menahan that the state could not articulate a legitimate interest to restrict access to accurate identification documents.

Under Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock implemented a new rule that allows people to alter the gender on their birth certificates by signing an affidavit.

In 2021, Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte passed a law that said transgender individuals could not change their birth certificates’ sex without undergoing surgery. This law was declared unconstitutionally unclear because it didn’t specify which surgery was needed. The state was told to go back to the 2017 rule.

In response, the Health Department — now under Republican control — has passed a new rule that says no one can change their sex on a birth certificate, unless there is a clerical mistake.

Montana’s Legislature passed a 2023 law that defined “sex” as only being male or female, based on a person’s assigned sex at birth. The law was declared unconstitutional for not accurately describing its purpose. However, the ACLU claims that the state still uses it to determine driver’s licence policies.

Menahan’s ruling blocked the rule that would have been implemented by the health department in 2022 regarding birth certificates, and the policy of the motor vehicle division which prohibited people from changing their sex without a new birth certificate. He also blocked a bill that would have defined sex only as male or female for birth certificates and drivers’ licenses.

Montana is one out of seven states where people cannot change their sex. 25 states allow this, 15 of which offer the option to list either male, female, or X. According to Movement Advancement Project (an advocacy and information group), 12 states allow birth certificates to be changed following gender affirming surgery.

Thirty states permit people to update their sex information on their license. The Movement Advancement Project describes Montana as one of 16 states that have a “burdensome” process. Four states don’t allow anyone to change the sex listed on their license.

Montana lawmakers passed a law in 2023 that prohibits gender affirming medical care to transgender children. This law was temporarily blocked by Montana lawmakers in September 2023, just before it went into effect. The Montana Supreme Court upheld this injunction last week.