gender

A 2023 bill that defined sex as only male or female is unconstitutional because its subject wasn’t clear in its title as required by the Montana Constitution, a judge ruled Tuesday.

SB 458 defines sex as male or female, and one attorney said the title “puts the world on notice” of its intent for numerous updates.

The figures show median pay for women in Washington for 2022 was $18,400 less than what men earned that year.

Republican lawmakers in several states have resurrected and expanded the fight over whether transgender people may use bathrooms and other facilities that do not match their sex assigned at birth.

In the lawsuit filed by Two Spirit and intersex individuals, plaintiffs say that the Montana Legislature cuts them out of their constitutionally protected rights, and that Senate Bill 458 should be struck down.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services announced it was once again instituting a policy that prohibits changing the sex marked on a person’s birth certificate in most cases.

Judge Jason Marks said he plans to issue a ruling next week and then start working on a schedule for a trial he anticipates will be lengthy.

Laws and policies, and statements used to justify them, reflect misconceptions and misinformation that conflate treatments and strip trans youth of essential care.

The bill stands in opposition to legislation in Republican-led states blocking access and criminalizing care.

Jennifer savage writes, "I will never stop fighting for my kid and I will never stop fighting for all the other transgender, nonbinary and two spirit kids in Montana."