Judge rejects transgender plaintiffs’ bid to change their birth certificates in Tennessee

By TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group of Tennessee-born transgender plaintiffs who want to change the sex designations on their birth certificates. The plaintiffs say not allowing the changes unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender people. They say the designation is inaccurate because it does not reflect their gender identities, which they say is their true sex. In his Thursday ruling, U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson writes that there are varying definitions of “sex.” However he says that for purposes of Tennessee birth certificates, the term means the external genitalia at time of birth.