It’s been a month since a District Court judge in Billings granted a preliminary injunction blocking new state law Senate Bill 280, from being enforced. However, the ACLU of Montana says the state still isn’t complying.
The law would require people present documentation of gender confirmation surgery in order to change the gender marker on their birth certificate.
“We have continued to be patient in allowing the state time to comply with the court-ordered preliminary injunction,” the ACLU wrote in a statement. “However, close to one month has passed, and the state’s willful indifference to the court order is inexcusable.”
The April ruling ordered the Montana Department of Health and Human Services return to the “status quo,” which the court said is a 2017 administrative rule allowing people to change their birth certificates through an online form.
After SB 280 passed last year, the DPHHS removed the form from their website.
NBC Montana reached out to DPHHS, but did not hear back.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two trans people in July, names the state of Montana, Gov. Greg Gianforte, the state health department and its director, Adam Meier, as defendants.
The plaintiffs claim the law makes it nearly impossible to change their birth certificates and violates their constitutional right to privacy.
The state disagrees. They say the law is important for maintaining accurate records and doesn’t violate the constitution.
“The fact that the state refuses to revert to the previous processes evidences its lack of respect for the judiciary and utter disregard for the transgender Montanans who seek to have a birth certificate that accurately indicates what they know their sex to be,” the ACLU added in their statement. “If the state continues to violate the preliminary injunction, we will have no choice but to seek relief from the court.”