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Drummond files petition with U.S. Supreme Court to protect sex designation on birth certificates in Oklahoma

Writer's picture: Dennis McCaslinDennis McCaslin


Today in Fort Smith - Jan. 27, 2025 – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting that his state's policy of recording and maintaining sex on birth certificates is constitutional.


This move comes in response to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which found that Oklahoma's refusal to change the sex designation to match an individual's gender identity was unconstitutional.


Drummond's brief, filed last week, argues that the Tenth Circuit's decision conflicts with a similar ruling from the Sixth Circuit, which upheld Tennessee's policy. He contends that the Tenth Circuit wrongly concluded that Oklahoma's policy discriminates based on transgender status.


"Nothing in the Constitution prohibits States from permanently documenting sex on a birth certificate. A newborn's sex is an objective fact that has long been recorded and preserved in state records," the brief states.


The filing further asserts that Oklahoma does not guarantee a birth certificate matching gender identity, but rather one that accurately records the historical fact of a newborn's sex.

The petition requests the Supreme Court to determine whether the Equal Protection Clause requires a state to alter its official certificate documenting a person's sex at birth to reflect their current gender identity.


Read the petition and the appendix by clicking the links.




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