Supreme Court rules transgender people can't get birth certificates reflecting gender identity
Department of Health rules say statistical data can only be changed if error made at time of creation
The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a person cannot change the sex on his or her birth certificate unless it was made in error at the time of birth.
The decision upheld Circuit Court Judge Margo Northrup’s ruling. Northrup is in Hughes County.
The case was brought by Sigrid Nielsen, who petitioned the circuit court on Sept. 24, 2024 to change the sex on Nielsen’s birth certificate from male to female. Though born a biological male, Nielsen identified as a transgender woman.
