Puerto Rico Has Rational Basis for Allowing Only Two Genders for Birth Certificate Gender Changes |
The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
About The Volokh Conspiracy Editorial Independence Who we are Books Volokh Daily Email Archives Search DMCA RSS
Gender
Puerto Rico Has Rational Basis for Allowing Only Two Genders for Birth Certificate Gender Changes
Eugene Volokh | 9.3.2026 8:01 AM
From Tuesday's decision by Judge Lara Montecalvo, joined by Chief Judge David Barron and Judge Sandra Lynch, in Díaz v. Colón:
In its summary judgment order, the district court held that Plaintiffs were entitled to relief under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. {[T]he district court only reached Plaintiffs' claim under the Equal Protection Clause; it did not reach Plaintiffs' claims under the Due Process Clause or the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Puerto Rico Constitution.}
Explaining that the Application for Gender Change gives "an option for binary applicants to choose a gender marker which aligns with their true gender, but does not provide [such] an option" for "nonbinary individuals," the district court concluded that Puerto Rico's "Birth Certificate Policy" creates a classification on its face between "people with a binary gender identity" and "nonbinary people." The district court also concluded that it did not need to decide which level of scrutiny applied to Puerto Rico's Birth Certificate Policy because it held that the Policy did not survive........