Oro y Plata state, we’re loving what you’re up to! A Montana state district court granted a preliminary injunction on the state’s ban on gender marker changes to driver’s licenses and birth certificates yesterday, December 16th, 2024.
A “preliminary injunction” stops a law from being enforced while a lawsuit is active.
History of Montana’s Limits on Gender Marker Changes
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services implemented a rule in February, 2024 after passage of S.B. 458, which prohibited changes to gender markers on birth certificates unless the original maker was a data error entry. The Department of Justice followed with a ban on changing driver’s license gender markers.
Montana also attempted to require surgery and a court order before granting gender marker changes on birth certificates in 2022. A district court judge ruled that law unconstitutional.
Montanans will be able to update their gender markers while this lawsuit, brought by two trans women continues in the court process.
Read the ACLU press release from 12/16/2024.
Earlier this month, the Montana State Supreme Court ruled that the ban on affirming health care for transgender youth was unconstitutional under the state constitution and maintained the block on S.B. 99.
Our 2024 Montana Updates page. Stay tuned for a new 2025 page.
