ACLU and Lambda Legal File Lawsuit to Challenge Ohio’s Discriminatory Birth Certificate Policy

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, the ACLU, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit today challenging Ohio’s refusal to correct the gender marker on birth certificates for transgender individuals for any reason at any time.

Ohio is one of just three states, along with Tennessee and Kansas, that has yet to change the outdated policy.

“Ohio’s policy deprives transgender people who were born in Ohio of a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender identity,” said Susan Becker, general counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. “It’s past time Ohio complies with the Constitution’s promise that all people have a right to live freely and openly in society as who they are, without fear of discrimination.”

Lambda Legal law fellow Kara Ingelhart said, “This policy is not only archaic and out-of-step with the rest of America but also dangerous. Forcing transgender Ohioans to go through life with inaccurate birth certificates, a basic form of identification, unnecessarily exposes them to discrimination, harassment, and violence. It also denies them their very identity. In fact, government officials in Ohio know this, given that they allow transgender people to change the gender on their drivers’ licenses and state identification cards.”

People born in Ohio are able to correct the gender marker on other legal documents such as their driver’s license, state identification, passport, and social security information. “But in refusing to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates, the state of Ohio is forcing transgender people to ‘out’ themselves every time they need to present the document, which exposes them to a range of unfair and discriminatory treatment, from denial of employment, to verbal harassment, to physical violence,” said Gabriel Arkles, senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project.

“After I had to show my birth certificate to obtain a job, a colleague threatened to beat me up and I felt I needed to leave for my own safety,” said plaintiff Stacie Ray. “I deserve to have documents that reflect who I am and don’t put me in harm’s way — the same as anyone would want for themselves and their loved ones.”

Basil Argento, also a plaintiff, said, “Ohio’s policy causes me problems here in the U.S. as well as in Italy, my family’s homeland. Ohio’s refusal to correct my birth certificate made it enormously difficult to obtain dual citizenship, and I am still fighting to get my Italian passport issued for the same reason.”

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.