Case Under Review

The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a probate judge rejected a transgender woman’s request to correct her birth certificate, leading to a split in court rulings and guidance on the issue. Attorneys for the Clark County woman argue the judge’s ruling, upheld by the 2nd Ohio District Court of Appeals, runs counter to a federal court decision, an Ohio Department of Health certificate change process, a Supreme Court probate form allowing for gender corrections, and procedures in more than a dozen other Ohio probate courts. The Clark County judge improperly ruled that nothing in state law gives probate judges authority to correct gender on a birth certificate unless it was originally made in error. The attorneys also noted that the state Health Department updated its process to allow for birth certificate corrections after a federal court in 2020 found unconstitutional Ohio’s rule prohibiting changes to gender on birth certificates.