Trans Oklahomans sue over birth certificates
Two transgender men and one trans woman have sued the state of Oklahoma over its efforts to block them from amending the gender on their birth certificates.The lawsuit, filed in federal court by Lambda Legal on behalf of Tulsa residents Rowan Fowler, Allister Hall, and a Creek County resident who chose to remain anonymous, using the initials C.R., alleges that the three faced intentional discrimination “on the basis of [their] transgender status” when they were barred from changing the gender marker on their birth certificate to align with their gender identity.The lawsuit names Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Keith Reed, and registrar of vital records Kelly Baker as defendants in the lawsuit.The prohibition on amending gender markers was imposed by Stitt after he issued an executive order banning the practice. Stitt issued the order in response to outrage from his fellow Republicans after the state’s Department of Health complied with a judge’s order and approved an amended birth certificate with a nonbinary gender marker.The original plaintiff in the case leading to that decision, Kit Lorelied, had sued after being denied the right to have their correct gender reflected on their birth certificate, as trans and nonbinary individuals are currently able to do in 17 states and the District of Columbia.Stitt has since urged the state legislature to ban “nonbinary gender markers” on vital documents — a proposal that is currently being considered by the state’s senate.