Montana accepting transgender birth certificate changes

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s health department has restored the ability for transgender people to apply to correct the gender marker on their birth certificate. That comes after a judge blocked enforcement of a law that would have required them to have surgery first. Officials say processing applications for changes to birth certificates can take several months. District Court Judge Michael Moses in April blocked the law requiring surgery. But state health officials instead created a new rule disallowing any changes to birth certificates unless it was a clerical error. Moses threatened to hold state officials in contempt if they did not start accepting applications to correct birth records.