A bill on the way to Governor Kevit Stitt’s desk would require male or female designation on a birth certificate and prohibit any changes, with very little exception.
The authors of House Bill 1225 say it was designed to strengthen legislation that is being challenged in federal court by the transgender community, but critics call it further discrimination.
Rowan Fowler misses Oklahoma, but as a transgender woman, she can not get a birth certificate change here. Senate Bill 1100 sealed that deal in 2022.
“I didn’t leave because I wanted to leave… the pressure was getting to be too much; it was hurting my mental health,” said Fowler.
Fowler and two other Tulsa plaintiffs sued, calling the law unconstitutional. The issue is still tied up in court.
Meanwhile, new, similar legislation passed with overwhelming support. Many democrats are asking, why this bill now?
“Do you worry that this will trigger even more litigation?” asked Senator Carrie Hicks to the bill’s author, Senator Michael Bergstrom, during a session on April 29.
“No, since we are providing clarification,” Bergstrom explained.
Bergstrom told the Senate floor that he worked with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office on the bill. The AG’s office confirmed that information with 2 News Oklahoma, and told us the bill was designed to help them with the Fowler lawsuit to clarify that Oklahoma never permitted gender birth certificate changes.
Representative Kevin West co-authored the bill.
“These are permanent, vital records that the State of Oklahoma maintains, and it needs to remain what the biological reality is,” said West. “If somebody transitions from male to female or vice versa, they are still biologically what they originally were.”
Fowler’s attorney, Peter Renn, argues that it is not a valid reason.
“Rowan having a birth certificate or entity identity document that matches who she is hurts no one else, and depriving her of that only harms transgender people… by endangering their very basic safety,” said Renn.
“It’s discrimination, and it’s discrimination against a very, very small portion of the population,” said Fowler.
The bill passed the most recent vote, 70-17. Governor Stitt is expected to sign it.
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