Transgender Tennesseans want state’s refusal to amend birth certificates declared unconstitutional [Video]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal appeals court heard arguments on Thursday over a decades-old Tennessee policy that does not allow transgender people to change the sex designation on their birth certificates.

The lawsuit was first filed in federal court in Nashville in 2019 by transgender Tennesseans who say Tennessee’s prohibition serves no legitimate government interest while it subjects transgender people to discrimination, harassment and even violence when they have to produce a birth certificate for identification that clashes with their gender identity. They say the policy is unconstitutional.