Now every trans person in Arizona is included in a mega-lawsuit against the state

On Thursday, a federal district court in Tucson granted plaintiffs’ request to certify a class action in a case challenging Arizona’s requirement that transgender people undergo a “sex change operation” before switching gender markers listed on their birth certificates.

The archaic precondition is being challenged in a lawsuit filed nearly three years ago by the National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of three families with transgender children.

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Parents are complaining about the “silly” process that involves online forms or even going to the school to sign papers.

“This ruling means that this case will now benefit all transgender people born in Arizona, not just the individual plaintiffs who originally brought the case,” the NCLR said in a statement.

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Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, first filed in 2020, assert Arizona’s surgery pre-requisite violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment, making it unconstitutional.

“Arizona’s outdated surgery requirement is particularly harmful for transgender youth who are effectively barred from correcting the gender marker on their birth certificates because very few transgender young people undergo any surgical treatment,” the organization said. “For young people, their birth certificate affects everything from school records to camp registration.”

The three transgender plaintiffs in the case sought to correct their birth certificates but were denied the change due to the surgery requirement. Their inability to correct gender markers has caused practical problems and harms, according to NCLR.

“Any time they need to produce a birth certificate, they are forced to disclose their transgender status, which is private information that a person should be free to share or not,” NCLR said. “Additionally, being forcibly ‘outed’ puts individuals at risk of discrimination, harassment, and violence.”

The lawsuit also addresses the misconception that surgery is always necessary, or desired, for gender transition.

“The most common surgical procedure that is medically necessary for transgender young people is male chest reconstruction surgery,” the lawsuit reads. “That procedure is specifically for transgender males. However, because of the increasing availability of puberty-delaying medication, an increasing number of transgender boys never develop breasts and therefore never need that surgery.”

With class action status, that argument now applies to all Arizonans confronted with the burdensome and discriminatory requirement.

“Our plaintiffs have been vigorously prosecuting this case and filed their motion for class certification in August 2021,” Rachel Berg, NCLR staff attorney told LGBTQ Nation.

“The stories of our clients are just a small representation of the thousands of individuals born in Arizona who are unable to amend their birth certificates to reflect who they are,” Berg said in a statement.

“We are thrilled that this case will now apply to all transgender individuals born in Arizona who wish to amend their birth certificates to accurately reflect their gender identity. Access to correct identity documents is critically important to the health and well-being of transgender people.”