Idaho moves ahead on birth certificate gender change rule

Idaho officials are moving forward with efforts to make it more difficult for young transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a federal court ruling that appears to ban such obstacles.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare on Wednesday made public comments on a temporary rule requiring applicants younger than 18 to get approval from medical or mental health professionals before requesting the change.

A federal judge in March 2018 ruled that Idaho’s law barring transgender people from making the birth certificate change violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and warned against new rules.

But in May, Health and Welfare’s board of directors approved a rule requiring anyone under 18 get the additional approval.

That administrative rule went into effect July 1 but still needs lawmaker approval.

AP Only 2019