A judge in Montana on Thursday barred health officials from enforcing a state law that would prevent transgender people from changing their gender on birth certificates.
Judge Michael Moses scolded attorneys representing the state during a hearing in Billings for sidestepping his ruling in April that temporarily blocked a Montana law that makes it harder to change birth certificates.
Moses said there was no question that the new rule recently passed by the Montana Department of Health violated his ruling. The court action reinstates a department rule that facilitates the process of amending the certificate.
Conservative lawmakers in several states have tried to limit transgender rights. Among other measures, they have banned transgender girls from competing in girls’ school sports.
Montana law stated that a person had to undergo a “surgical operation” to change the sex on their birth certificate. Governor Greg Gianforte went even further and blocked the modifications to the certificates even following the operation.
Moses called his April ruling “clear as day” and compared the state’s subsequent moves to the case of a person convicted twice of assault who tries to change his name following a third offense to avoid a new conviction.
“Isn’t that exactly what happened here?” Moses asked. “It kind of offends me that the department thinks it can do whatever it wants.”
Only Tennessee, Oklahoma and West Virginia ban the changes Montana attempted, transgender rights advocates say. The bans in Idaho and Ohio were lifted in 2020.
