老澳门开奖结果

COLUMBUS, Ohio 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 of Ohio, the 老澳门开奖结果, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit today challenging Ohio鈥檚 refusal to correct the gender marker on birth certificates for transgender individuals for any reason at any time.

Ohio is one of just three states, along with Tennessee and Kansas, that has yet to change the outdated policy.

鈥淥hio鈥檚 policy deprives transgender people who were born in Ohio of a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender identity,鈥� said Susan Becker, general counsel for the 老澳门开奖结果 of Ohio. 鈥淚t鈥檚 past time Ohio complies with the Constitution鈥檚 promise that all people have a right to live freely and openly in society as who they are, without fear of discrimination.鈥�

Lambda Legal law fellow Kara Ingelhart said, 鈥淭his policy is not only archaic and out-of-step with the rest of America but also dangerous. Forcing transgender Ohioans to go through life with inaccurate birth certificates, a basic form of identification, unnecessarily exposes them to discrimination, harassment, and violence. It also denies them their very identity. In fact, government officials in Ohio know this, given that they allow transgender people to change the gender on their drivers鈥� licenses and state identification cards.鈥�

People born in Ohio are able to correct the gender marker on other legal documents such as their driver鈥檚 license, state identification, passport, and social security information. 鈥淏ut in refusing to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates, the state of Ohio is forcing transgender people to 鈥榦ut鈥� themselves every time they need to present the document, which exposes them to a range of unfair and discriminatory treatment, from denial of employment, to verbal harassment, to physical violence,鈥� said Gabriel Arkles, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 LGBT & HIV Project.

鈥淎fter I had to show my birth certificate to obtain a job, a colleague threatened to beat me up and I felt I needed to leave for my own safety,鈥� said plaintiff Stacie Ray. 鈥淚 deserve to have documents that reflect who I am and don鈥檛 put me in harm鈥檚 way 鈥� the same as anyone would want for themselves and their loved ones.鈥�

Basil Argento, also a plaintiff, said, 鈥淥hio鈥檚 policy causes me problems here in the U.S. as well as in Italy, my family鈥檚 homeland. Ohio鈥檚 refusal to correct my birth certificate made it enormously difficult to obtain dual citizenship, and I am still fighting to get my Italian passport issued for the same reason.鈥�

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.