Montana governor signs law to define 'sex' as only male or female

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Republican Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill defining the word “sex” in state law as only male or female — joining Kansas and Tennessee, which have similar laws that LGBTQ+ advocates argue will deny legal recognition to nonbinary and transgender people. The Montana bill “is an attempt to erase trans, nonbinary and two-spirit people from the code, thereby removing the rights, privileges and considerations that trans, nonbinary and Two Spirit people would have under the law," said SK Rossi last month, testifying against the legislation on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign. Other states have or are considering adopting similar legislation to Montana's, to define “sex,” which would block residents from changing the identifying labels on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses. The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Carl Glimm, said the legislation was necessary after a 2022 court ruling in which a state judge said transgender residents could change the gender markers on their birth certificates.