Idaho Gov. Brad Little
Lambda Legal has filed suit against the state of Idaho for enacting a law that prevents judges from changing a gender marker on any birth certificate issue by the state, according to Avery Belyeu, south central regional director of Lambda Legal. Earlier this week, the ACLU filed suit against the state for a second law that prevents transgender girls and women from participating in school sports.
The motion filed by Lambda Legal is to stop enforcement of the gender marker law based on a 2018 ruling that ordered Idaho officials to allow transgender people born in the state to change their gender markers to match their gender identity.
“Two years ago, the court determined that the state’s ban against transgender people correcting their birth certificates was dangerous, discriminatory, and indefensible. That is why the court permanently barred Idaho from automatically turning away transgender people seeking birth certificates that match their gender identity. Permanent means permanent,” Lambda Legal Counsel Peter Renn said. “It is shocking that state lawmakers would be so brazenly lawless as to defy a federal court ruling. The rule of law collapses if we refuse to abide by the outcome of who wins and who loses in our system of justice. HB 509, which reinstates a ban that the court already declared unconstitutional, is a naked flouting of the rule of law.”
According to Lambda Legal, 47 states allow people to update their birth certificates so their gender and gender identity match.
— David Taffet
