TLDEF and ACLU Statement in Response to Federal Court Ruling in Transgender ID Lawsuit

(ATLANTA, GA — September 25, 2024) Today, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), soon to be known as Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued the below statement in response to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Corbitt v. Taylor, a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s requirement for proof of certain medical interventions in order for transgender people to obtain accurate identity documents: 

“We are deeply disappointed with the Court’s ruling. This decision puts transgender people in Alabama at risk. Living in a place that will not recognize who you are on something as essential as an identity document is not only horribly damaging to one’s psyche, but also puts transgender people at risk during every interaction where an ID is required.  

“Transgender and nonbinary people in states across the country are being put in a double bind: it can be near impossible to access transgender health care, but surgery ‘proving’ their gender is required for them to get the identification documents they need to live their lives.” 

Plaintiff reactions: 

“This is a devastating decision, not just for me, but for all transgender people in Alabama. I will continue to be myself; I know who I am. But having an ID that doesn’t reflect that puts me at risk everywhere I go,” said plaintiff Destiny Clark (she/her), a health care worker from Birmingham. “It is heartbreaking to live in a state that fights in court to deny who I truly am.” 

“No government built by its people and for its people has the right to tell its citizens who they are or to treat its citizens differently based on their inherent identity. The State of Alabama has consistently shown that it is a government that is ready, willing, and able to gleefully disregard the inherent dignity and worth of its most vulnerable citizens and to trample upon their right to self-determination. This should be chilling to any Alabamian who values their freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This ruling, while unfortunate, does not change the person I am nor lessen my resolve to joyfully embrace the person God has made me to be. Nor does it change the fact that transgender Alabamians are beautiful, worthy, and whole regardless of whether or not they fit the state’s narrow and imprecise definition of gender identity. We do have the right to equal treatment under the law, and I encourage every one of us to continue to assert that right. For my part, I continue to be strengthened by my faith’s insistence that we all are God’s children, equal in dignity and worth, and I will continue in my commitment to making no peace with oppression in whatever form it takes,” said Darcy Corbitt, another plaintiff in the case. 

BACKGROUND: 

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Alabama’s surgical requirement for transgender people to obtain an accurate identity document is constitutional and remains in place. While it is still possible to change a gender marker on a driver’s license in Alabama, the process remains burdensome. This follows a 2021 district court ruling finding that it was unconstitutional for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to deny three transgender women — Darcy Corbitt, Destiny Clark, and an unnamed plaintiff — accurate IDs because they had not had certain gender affirming surgeries. 

Not all transgender people want or need surgery, and it can often be inaccessible or unaffordable to those that do. This is especially true for young trans individuals, who are increasingly forced to navigate discriminatory laws that criminalize the healthcare they may need. According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, only 2% of transgender men, 10% of transgender women, and 1% of nonbinary people reported having undergone the surgical procedures required by Alabama to obtain accurate identity documents. The same survey found that one in four transgender respondents who had presented an identity document that did not reflect their gender presentation were verbally harassed, one in six were denied service and one in fifty, physically attacked. These risks don’t fall equally on everyone—trans people were twice as likely to have been physically attacked after showing ID if they were Black, three times as likely if they were Indigenous, and almost five times as likely if they were Middle Eastern. The Court’s decision puts transgender people in Alabama in an impossible, and dangerous, position every time they have to show an ID. 

The three plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from TLDEF, the ACLU Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović LGBTQ & HIV Project, and the ACLU of Alabama. 

About TLDEF:   

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (soon to be A4TE) is committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, test-case litigation, direct legal services, and public policy efforts. To learn more about TLDEF’s work, visit tldef.org.   

About the ACLU: 

For more than 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures, and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all.