Court upholds law prohibiting change of sex on birth certificates in Tennessee

A federal appeals court panel has upheld a Tennessee law that prohibits residents from changing the sex listed on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity, ruling that the law is not unconstitutionally discriminatory against transgender individuals. 

“There is no fundamental right to a birth certificate recording gender identity instead of biological sex,” wrote 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Sutton in the 2-1 decision on Friday, affirming a 2023 district court ruling. 

Judge Sutton, writing for the majority, stated that the plaintiffs failed to prove that Tennessee’s policy was designed to discriminate against transgender people. He noted that the policy has been in place for decades, long before medical diagnoses of gender dysphoria became recognized. 

The plaintiffs, four transgender-identifying biological males born in Tennessee, argued that sex is determined by gender identity rather than genitalia. They defined gender identity as “a person’s core internal sense of their own gender.” 

The plaintiffs, who first filed a lawsuit in 2019, also contended that Tennessee’s policy does not serve a legitimate government interest and subjects transgender-identifying people to discrimination, harassment, and violence, according to the LA Times.  

Tennessee birth certificates, which record a person’s biological sex, are used for statistical information and epidemiological activities to inform the provision of health services. Sutton pointed that out in the ruling, asking how "could a government keep uniform records of any sort if the disparate views of its citizens about shifting norms in society controlled the government’s choices of language and of what information to collect?”  

Women’s rights activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines applauded the ruling in a post. Gaines, who has continued to advocate for legal recognition of the biological sexes, called the court’s determination a “huge win for common sense and biological reality.”

“No man or woman can change their God-given sex on their birth certificate in the state of TN,” Gaines said. “In TN, a male will always be a male & a female will always be a female. We've got it right down here.”