A group of transgender, Two-Spirit and nonbinary Montanans say the state is violating their constitutional rights with a new law that defines sex as binary. The group has filed a lawsuit in Missoula County.
The suit is challenging Senate Bill 458 that Republicans passed last legislative session. It defines sex as immutably male or female, and effectively eliminates legal recognition of transgender, Two-Spirit and intersex Montanans in 40 sections of state code.
One of three transgender plaintiffs, Susan Edwards, is a retired accountant and U.S. Navy veteran from Terry. She says the law doesn’t address any specific problem, but will cause deep harm for those affected. “I can’t renew my drivers’ license, I can’t do anything with the state. You know, it makes me deny my own personhood.”
The other plaintiffs in the case are two Montanans with intersex conditions who say the law fails to account for their chromosomal variations that fall outside of a binary definition. The Montana Two-Spirit Society, which advocates for Native American and Indigenous people who identify as gender diverse, says the law violates tribal sovereignty.
Republican officials say the law is necessary to maintain consistent application of the law and to prevent sex from being conflated with gender.
