The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that residents in Tennessee will not be allowed to change the gender on their birth certificate. Documents show the court ruled “there is no fundamental right to a birth certificate recording gender identity instead of biological sex.”
In the case of Gore v. Lee, Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, stated that, in his opinion, while the state allows changes to birth certificates for cases such as adoption, sex is a “historical fact unchangeable by an individual’s transition to a different gender identity.”
The lawsuit regarding changes to gender markers on birth certificates in the state was originally dismissed in June 2023. The suit filed by Lambda Legal in 2019 was on behalf of four transgender people in the state — Kayla Gore, Jaime Combs, and “two plaintiffs identified by their initials, L.G. and K.N.”
“The plaintiffs allege that the certificates divulge their transgender status when they present their birth certificates for employment or when they apply for a passport,” the document said. “One of the plaintiffs, Kayla Gore, gave up on a job opportunity based on a fear of disclosure. All of the plaintiffs fear that ‘possessing a birth certificate that fails to reflect [their] female gender identity’ increases the risk that they will suffer ‘discrimination, distress, harassment, or violence.’”
As a result, the individuals asked for an amendment to allow citizens to “self-report” their gender identity, which the “district court rejected as a matter of law.”
The opinion stated that millions of children are born in the United States every year, and their births provide data on population changes, demographics, fertility rates, and other medical issues. It also summarized the country’s progression in registration and how the “advent of sex-reassignment surgery” caused people to advocate for changes to their birth certificates.
As a result, many states allowed for changes to be made, which would set a precedent for states to decide what provisions could be made.
“Today, the States’ practices are all over the map. At least six States do not permit amendments that conflict with the individual’s biological sex,” Sutton said. These states include Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, and South Carolina.
The opinion also stated Tennessee will only allow changes to birth certificates if there is “proof of an error” to “protect the integrity and accuracy of vital records.” Sutton said “a ‘sex-change surgery’ does not count as a factual error that permits a change to the sex listed at birth.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released a statement on the ruling, saying that whether or not someone can change their sex on their birth certificate is a “matter for each state to decide.”
“While other states have taken different approaches, for decades Tennessee has consistently recognized that a birth certificate records a biological fact of a child being male or female and has never addressed gender identity,” the statement read. “We are grateful that the Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that any change in Tennessee’s policy can only come from the people of Tennessee.”
