Transgender Arizonans don’t need surgery to update birth certificates, federal appeals court confirms

Transgender people born in Arizona can obtain court orders to change the sex markers on their birth certificates to align with their gender identity without having to undergo surgery, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The ruling clarified a process that has blocked some applicants.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that surgery isn’t the only path to an amended sex marker and that the Arizona Department of Health Services must comply with a court order directing an amendment, the Arizona Capitol Times.LGBTQ+ advocates welcomed that conclusion, although the court reversed a lower court’s ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor, rejected their constitutional challenge, and vacated an injunction against the law.The lawsuit, filed in 2020 and now known as Roe v. Johnston, challenged Arizona’s requirements for amending birth certificates on behalf of transgender people who have not undergone surgery.Related: Cis woman confronted by police officers in Arizona Walmart restroom for looking too masculine speaks outOne provision of Arizona Revised Statutes 36-337 allows a person who has undergone surgery to request an amended birth certificate by submitting a written request and a physician’s verification. But a separate provision requires the state to amend a birth certificate upon receiving “A court order ordering an amendment to a birth certificate.”The appeals court rejected the argument, advanced by Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Steve Montenegro, both Republicans, that either process required surgery. Petersen is the GOP nominee for Arizona attorney general.“Simply put, all transgender people can amend the sex marker on their birth certificates under the statute by obtaining a court order. In addition, some transgender people can amend the sex marker on their birth certificate by submitting a physician statement confirming they have undergone a sex change operation,” the ruling reads.The opinion “rem