Equal Protection Clause Allows Discrimated Ohio Transgender Residents To Correct Gender On Birth Certificate
On December 16th, 2020, federal Judge Michael Watson of the Southern District of Ohio’s Eastern Division found unconstitutional the Ohio Department of Health’s policy which prohibited transgender residents from correcting their gender on their birth certificate. Ohio allowed for gender changes on birth certificates to be made until 2016. Judge Watson stated “the policy resembles the sort of discrimination- based legislation struck down under the equal protection clause in Romer v. Evans as nothing more than a policy ‘born of animosity toward the class of person affected’ that has ‘no rational relation to a legitimate government purpose.’ ”
Judge Watson ruled in favor for four transgendered Ohioans to legally correct their birth certificate gender marker and overturn the state’s decision to deny the correction of the gender mark on their birth certificates . The case, known as Ray v. Himes and more recently, Ray v. McCloud , was filed in March 2018 by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, and law firm Thompson Hine LLP on behalf of four transgender plaintiffs: Stacie Ray, Basil Argento, Ashley Breda and … Read More... “LEGAL ALERT: Federal Court Strikes Down Ohio Law Blocking Trans People from Amending Their Birth Certificates”