Judge strikes down Montana law defining sex as only male or female for procedural reasons
Posted 6/25/24
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday struck down a Montana law that defined “sex” in state law as only male or female, finding that it was unconstitutional.
District Court Judge Shane …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Judge strikes down Montana law defining sex as only male or female for procedural reasons
FILE - In this March 15, 2021, file photo Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Montana State Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Helena, Mont., March 15, 2021. A judge on Tuesday struck down a Montana law that defined “sex” in state law as only male or female, finding that it was unconstitutional. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)
Posted
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday struck down a Montana law that defined “sex” in state law as only male or female, finding that it was unconstitutional.
District Court Judge Shane Vannatta in Missoula ruled the law, passed last year, violated the state constitution because the description of the legislation did not clearly state its purpose.
Transgender, nonbinary, intersex and other plaintiffs challenged the law, similar to ones passed in Kansas and Tennessee, because they said it denies legal recognition and protections to people who are gender-nonconforming. Vannatta did not address that argument, simply finding that the bill's title did not explain whether the word “sex” referred to sexual intercourse or gender, and did not indicate that the words “female” and “male” would be defined in the body of the bill.
“The title does not give general notice of the character of the legislation in a way that guards against deceptive or misleading titles,” Vannatta wrote.
The law that was struck down by Vannatta was sponsored by Republican Sen. Carl Glimm, who said the legislation was necessary after a 2022 court ruling in which a state judge said transgender residents could change the gender markers on their birth certificates.
A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who signed the bill into law, did not immediately return an after-hours email seeking comment on the ruling.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana praised it.
“Today’s ruling is an important vindication of the safeguards that the Montana Constitution places on legislative enactments," the group's legal director, Alex Rate, said.