Ray v. McCloud (S.D. Ohio 2020)

In Ray v. McCloud, 507 F. Supp. 3d 925 (S.D. Ohio 2020) the same plaintiffs in Ray v. Himes (S.D. Ohio 2019), sought summary judgment on their claims that Ohio’s continued refusal to amend gender markers on birth certificates violated the Constitution. The Court found in their favor, ruling that the policy violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution by infringing upon the plaintiffs’ rights to informational privacy and by treating transgender individuals differently without a legitimate governmental justification. The Court emphasized that Ohio had permitted such corrections before 2016 and that the state failed to demonstrate any rational basis for its reversal. The judgment permanently enjoined enforcement of the policy, making Ohio one of the states required to allow transgender people to amend birth certificates to reflect their gender identity.