Montana health officials have introduced a new rule prohibiting Trans people from making changes to their birth certificates to recognise their preferred gender.

Under the new regulations, changes can only be made to a certificate’s sex marker if the original was listed incorrectly or “as a result of a scrivener’s error or a data entry error”.

To make amendments, an applicant must prove “the sex of the individual was misidentified on the original certificate and the department receives a correction affidavit and supporting documents”. 

The supporting documents must show results of chromosomal, molecular, karyotypic, DNA or genetic testing, essentially meaning that anyone who chooses to self-identify their gender is prohibited from doing so.

The new rule, which came into effect on Saturday, September 10, 2022, replaces Senate Bill 280 which had been introduced by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte last year. Under the 2021 bill, Transgender people could only change their sex on birth certificates only once they had undergone a “surgical procedure”.

Following the introduction of the bill, two Trans women sued the state, claiming the burden to prove they had undergone surgery violated their constitutional right to privacy and due process.

According to a report in Gay Times, one of the plaintiffs stated, “Denying me an accurate birth certificate places me at risk of embarrassment or even violence every time I’m required to present my birth certificate because it incorrectly identifies me as male.”

As a result of the lawsuit, Judge Michael Moses issued a temporary injunction allowing people to return to the previous model whereby they were allowed to self-declare their gender. 

“They have gone against the advice of physical and mental health experts, teachers, parents and affected community members,” said Shawn Reagor, a community organizer with MHRN. https://t.co/Y70AE4qG9B

— MHRN (@MTHumanRights) September 9, 2022

The new anti-Trans rule has outraged LGBTQ+ activists. In a statement to Montana Free Press, Shawn Reagor, Director of Equality and Economic Justice at the Montana Human Rights Network said, “They have gone against the advice of physical and mental health experts, teachers, parents and affected community members”. 

He continued, “Montanans made their will clear in the public comment process, and the justification the Gianforte administration has given for flying in the face of that will can most generously be described as gaslighting and misleading.”