Plaintiffs D.T., Jane Doe, and Helen Roe are transgender children who unable to correct the gender markers on their birth certificates because of Arizona’s discriminatory laws.  Arizona requires transgender people to undergo surgery to obtain a birth certificate that matches who they are.  That surgery requirement is particularly harmful to transgender young people, like D.T., Jane, and Helen, because it is not medically appropriate for them to undergo those surgeries at their age.  Having to use an inaccurate birth certificate prevents transgender young people from being able to just be kids and treated consistent with their gender identity. 

On November 4, 2020, NCLR, along with co-counsel Cooley LLP and Osborn Maledon, filed a lawsuit—the first to challenge such a law on behalf of transgender young people—alleging that requiring surgery to correct the gender marker on a transgender person’s birth certificate violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.