Transgender Ohioans who want to change their birth certificates to reflect the gender with which they identify are filing a lawsuit against the state over that policy. The ACLU and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit.
Stacie Ray is one of the plaintiffs. She says she was embarrassed, harassed and threatened with physical violence after a human resources employee publicly noted the gender on her birth certificate does not match the gender on her driver’s license and other legal documents.
“I was referred to as the freak and the female coworker said if she ever encountered me in the women’s restroom that she would beat me up,” Ray said.
Aaron Baer with the Citizens for Community Values says his group doesn’t condone threats like Ray experienced. But he says the ACLU is sacrificing medical accuracy for political ideology.
“What they are trying to force the state to do here is falsify medical records,” Baer said.
The ACLU says Ohio is one of only three states that has yet to change its policies on transgender people and birth certificates.
