NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A group of Tennessee-born transgender people is suing in federal court to force the state to change the gender listed on their birth certificates.
In an interview, attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan said Tennessee is one of only three states that doesn't allow the change. It also was the last remaining state where that prohibition had gone unchallenged legally.
Gonzalez-Pagan is an attorney with Lambda Legal. The LGBT rights advocacy group has ongoing lawsuits in Kansas and Ohio over the issue.
Of the three, Tennessee is the only state that prohibits the change by statute.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville on Tuesday seeks a determination that Tennessee's statute is unconstitutional. The suit argues that the prohibition hurts transgender people and serves no legitimate government interest.