COLUMBUS ―  Equality Ohio Legal Clinic released the following statement regarding the Adelaide Case: The majority of the justices were not able to come to an agreement. This action leaves in place a lower-court ruling that affirmed the denial of transgender citizen’s application to correct the gender marker of her birth certificate to match her gender identity.

“Today, after more than three years of litigation, we are disappointed that this unopposed application for correction of birth certificate has been denied by a non-decision from the Ohio Supreme Court,” said Chad Eggspuehler Esq., Partner at Tucker Ellis LLP, which served as co-counsel with Equality Ohio Legal Clinic in representing the applicant in the case. “The absence of a precedential decision from the Ohio Supreme Court leaves unanswered important questions of law and leaves in place the disparate approaches taken by County Probate Courts.”

“We are disappointed with the outcome of this ruling, which is that our client has been denied the ability to update her gender marker on her birth certificate.” said Maya Simek, Esq., Legal Director at the Equality Ohio Legal Clinic. “Importantly, this ruling does not take a position on gender marker policy statewide, and we believe that probate courts should continue to honor the requests of transgender Ohioans who want to update the gender markers on their birth certificates. The Equality Ohio Legal Clinic is committed to advocating for transgender rights and pursuing all possible avenues to ensure legal protections and equitable treatment for LGBTQ+ Ohioans.” 

This court ruling does not create a statewide policy on gender marker updates. For more information about how the court ruling will impact Ohioans, Equality Ohio Legal Clinic Director Maya Simek and Chad Eggspuehler available for interviews. Contact media@equalityohio.org. Any transgender Ohioans who have questions on how this court ruling will impact them can complete an intake form here or by calling 855-LGBT-LAW.

In 2020, a federal court issued a permanent injunction holding that Ohio could not constitutionally single out transgender citizens from correcting information on their birth certificates–the gender marker. See Ray v. McCloud, 507 F.Supp.3d 925 (S.D.Ohio 2020). Ohio did not appeal that ruling, and Ohio’s Department of Health (ODH) has complied with Ray by instructing that gender-marker corrections for birth certificates be performed by probate courts. See ODH website (Changing or Correcting a Birth Record | Ohio Department of Health) (“In order to comply with the court decision in [Ray], the Ohio Department of Health will make changes to the sex marker on a birth certificate with a probate court order”). Gender-marker corrections are essential for transgender individuals who must use birth certificate as core identifying documents in all phases of their lives, and Ray rightfully recognized the privacy and Equal Protection harms caused by forcing transgender people to disclose their status every time they produce a birth certificate, when practically every other aspect of a birth certificate can be changed.

In the absence of a decision from the Ohio Supreme Court, we have every reason to believe that Probate Courts following Ray and Ohio Department of Health (ODP) guidance will continue to do so, until such time as ODH or the courts provide additional guidance. We hope that ODH will take additional measures to alleviate the disparate treatment that will continue after today’s non-decision.

About Equality Ohio and Equality Ohio Legal Clinic:  Equality Ohio works to advance lived and legal equality for LGBTQ+ Ohioans through education, advocacy, and community empowerment. Since its founding in 2005, Equality Ohio has been a leading voice in advancing equality and justice in Ohio. The Equality Ohio Legal Clinic accepts clients free of charge who are within 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and hosts a robust Attorney Referral Network.

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