Judge blocks Montana’s transgender birth certificate law

By AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a law that made it difficult for transgender people to change the sex on their birth certificates. The law required proof that a transgender person had undergone surgery before they could change the sex on their birth certificate. District Judge Michael Moses of Billings ruled Thursday the law is too vague because it does not specify what surgical procedures must be undertaken. The injunction means that while the case is being decided the state goes back to its old rules, which allows transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificate by providing an affidavit to the health department.