The South Dakota Supreme Court has denied a request from Sigrid Nielsen, a transgender woman seeking to change the sex on her birth certificate.
Nielsen filed a petition in September 2024 asking a court to amend the gender marker on her birth certificate from male to female and issue a replacement record. A lower court denied the request, prompting Nielsen to appeal.
The state’s highest court ruled 5-0 to uphold Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Margo Northrup’s decision denying Nielsen’s request, according to The Dakota Scout.
In its ruling, the court said no South Dakota law allows a person to change the sex on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity, holding that such records may only be amended to correct a factual error in the original document.
Writing for the court, Justice Patricia DeVaney said any amendments must explain what error is being corrected and must “relate to the facts existing at the time of birth.”
The justices also noted that only the legislature can determine what information must be recorded on a birth certificate or pass legislation defining the term “sex.”
“Nielsen’s petition seems less an effort to correct data under [the administrative rule] and more an attempt to expand the type of data recorded on a birth certificate or perhaps even the definition of sex, both of which are topics better left to the Legislature,” DeVaney wrote.
South Dakota lawmakers are considering a bill that would define the terms “man” and “woman” based solely on a person’s sex assigned at birth.
Critics say imposing rigid definitions of sex — and applying them throughout state law — could negatively affect state agencies or local governments with contracts involving businesses or other organizations. They also warn that amending existing statutes across the board could create complications or conflicts with civil rights law.
The South Dakota House of Representatives passed the bill by a 57-9 vote. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved it unanimously on March 5.
LGBTQ advocacy group Equality South Dakota is urging community members to contact their senators and oppose the bill.
“Under HB 1184, state agencies may be prohibited from updating identification documents to match a transgender person’s lived gender,” the organization wrote in a Facebook post outlining arguments against the bill. “This could impact: driver’s licenses, birth certificates, health and social service records, employment documents. Accurate IDs are essential for safety, employment, travel, housing, and healthcare. HB 1184 would force many transgender South Dakotans to carry mismatched documents, increasing the risk of discrimination, outing, and denial of services.”
The organization also argued that requiring identity documents to list only a person’s sex assigned at birth could create legal inconsistencies and confusion. It also warned the law could prove costly for the state if a federal court finds it unconstitutional and could make it harder for South Dakota businesses to recruit and retain workers if the measure is seen as discriminatory.
John Kluge has settled a lawsuit against the Brownsburg Community School Corporation after claiming he was forced out of his music teaching job for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred first name, arguing the district's policy requiring staff to use transgender students' preferred names and pronouns violated his religious beliefs.
Kluge, who identifies as Christian, alleged the district discriminated against him and retaliated after he refused to follow the policy.
The controversy began in 2017 after the Brownsburg school district adopted a policy requiring teachers to call students by the name listed in a school database, which reflected transgender students' preferred first names.
Ibtissame "Betty" Lachgar, a Moroccan lesbian activist jailed after posting a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt reading "Allah is a lesbian," may have to have her arm amputated may have to have her arm amputated as her health reportedly deteriorates in prison.
Lachgar, 50, was sentenced last September to two-and-a-half years in prison after authorities deemed the Facebook post "offensive to Islam."
"In Morocco, I walk around with T-shirts bearing messages against religions, Islam, etc.," Lachgar wrote in the post's caption. "You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is fascist, phallocratic and misogynistic."
A Ugandan court has dropped a case against the first man in the country to be prosecuted for "aggravated homosexuality," a charge that carries the death penalty under Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
The defendant, who was 20 years old at the time of his arrest on August 15, 2023, was allegedly discovered by police around midnight with a 41-year-old man at Soroti Sports Ground in eastern Uganda. Both men were arrested, taken to Soroti Central Police Station, and accused of engaging in "unlawful sexual intercourse," an allegation the 20-year-old denied. Police claimed they caught the two men half-naked.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.