SW News: A lawsuit filed by a group of plaintiffs who identify with the opposite gender has been rejected by a federal judge in the state of Tennessee, USA. In the lawsuit, they demanded permission to change the sex on their birth certificates, which is currently illegal in the state.

They said in the lawsuit that the 1977 law of Tennessee did not allow people with gender dysphoria to change the sex on their birth certificates. They contended that the law was unconstitutional as it discriminated against the so-called transgender people. The plaintiffs also argued that the sex designation on the certificate was incorrect as it failed to match their gender identities.

The plaintiffs also said that the 1977 law was harmful as there were chances that people identifying with the opposite sex could be made to undergo harassment or violence. It was on Thursday that US District Judge Eli Richardson wrote in the verdict dismissing the lawsuit that there are different definitions of the word “sex”.

But he said that the word has a “very narrow and specific meaning" regarding the context of the birth certificate. He said that in that context, it implied the external genitalia at the time of birth. The judge said the designation of sex does not become incorrect later “when it is eventually understood to diverge from the transgender person's gender identity." On the other hand, the plaintiffs said that sex should be considered a person’s gender identity.

In several American states, Republican lawmakers are working to prohibit sex-change procedures in minors and to provide protection to teachers who prefer not to use preferred pronouns of students experiencing gender dysphoria. They are also trying to prevent private schools from permitting students to take part in sports events that do not align with their biological sex.