Idaho lawmakers have advanced a measure banning transgender people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a federal court ruling declaring such a ban unconstitutional. The Republican-dominated House voted 53-16 to pass the measure that now goes to the GOP-controlled Senate. The bill introduced by Republican Representative Julianne Young bans changes to a birth certificate if more than a year has passed since the person’s birth. A federal judge in March 2018 ruled that Idaho’s law barring transgender people from making the birth certificate change violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The judge scrapped the ban and warned against new rules. The state was then on the hook for 75-thousand dollars in court-ordered attorney fees to the winning side, and Idaho never appealed the decision. Democratic Representative John Gannon says the latest legislation is a clear violation of the court ruling, and should it become law Idaho would lose again in court and pay more money to the winning side. Republican Representative Linda Hartgen says the federal court ruling was a deciding factor for her in voting against the bill. Ohio and Tennessee are the only other states in the country where transgender people cannot change their birth certificates. The Idaho effort comes a day after GOP lawmakers advanced another bill to keep transgender women from competing in girls and women’s sports, despite more constitutional concerns raised by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office. (AP)
