Gonzalez v. Nevares

305 F. Supp. 3d 327
CourtUnited States District Court
DecidedApril 20, 2018
DocketCIVIL 17–1457CCC
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 305 F. Supp. 3d 327 (Gonzalez v. Nevares) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gonzalez v. Nevares, 305 F. Supp. 3d 327 (usdistct 2018).

Opinion

CARMEN CONSUELO CEREZO, United States District Judge

This is an action for declaratory relief brought by three transgenders and an organization that advocates for the civil rights of LGBT people in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. They seek one common determination: that defendants be ordered to permit transgender persons born in Puerto Rico to correct their birth certificates to accurately reflect their true sex, consistent with their gender identity, in accordance with the practice delineated in 24 L.P.R.A. section 11361 and without adhering to the practice delineated in 24 L.P.R.A. section 1231 of using a strike-out line to change one's name, or otherwise including any information that would disclose a person's transgender status on the face of the birth certificate. See Amended Complaint (d.e. 15), Prayer's Clause (C), p. 40. A Motion to Dismiss filed on June 12, 2017 by defendants Ricardo Rossello Nevares, in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Rafael Rodriguez Mercado, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and Wanda LLovet Diaz, in her official capacity as Director of the Division of Demographic Registry and Vital Statistics of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (d.e. 22), was denied on August 29, 2017 (d.e. 35). Defendants have not filed an answer to the amended complaint. Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on June 26, 2017 (d.e. 26), accompanied by a Statement of Material Facts (d.e. 26-1).

Having considered the Motion for Summary Judgment, the declarations under penalty of perjury executed by the plaintiffs and other supporting materials, as well as defendants' opposition, the Court sets forth the following material facts that remain undisputed:

Findings of Fact

1. Plaintiffs are three transgender individuals and an organization with transgender members that seek to have their Puerto Rico birth certificates *329amended to accurately reflect their gender identity.
2. Ms. Daniela Arroyo's and Ms. Victoria Rodriguez's gender identity and expression is female.
3. Mr. J.G.'s gender identity and expression is male. His transgender status is not publicly known, nor known by his current employer or co-workers.
4. Ms. Arroyo and Ms. Rodriguez have aligned their body characteristics, appearance, and lived experience with their female gender identity.
5. Mr. J.G. has aligned his body characteristics, appearance, and lived experience with his male gender identity.
6. All three plaintiffs wish to correct the gender marker on their birth certificates.
7. Ms. Arroyo and Ms. Rodriguez wish to correct the gender markers on their birth certificates to accurately reflect the identity of each as a woman, as determined by their gender identity.
8. Mr. J.G. wishes to correct the gender marker on his birth certificate to accurately reflect his identity as a man, as determined by his gender identity.
9. Ms. Arroyo's and Ms. Rodriguez' birth certificates do not reflect their true identity, are incongruent with their female identity and expression, and conflict with their other identification documents.
10. Mr. J.G.'s birth certificate does not reflect his true identity, is incongruent with his male identity and expression, and conflicts with his other identification documents.
11. Ms. Rodríguez changed her name and corrected the gender marker on her driver's license, U.S. Passport, and Social Security records.
12. Mr. J.G. changed his name on his birth certificate and has also changed his name and corrected the gender marker on his driver's license and Social Security records.
13. An individual's birth certificate is a primary identification document. In Puerto Rico, it is needed to obtain a driver's license, a marriage license, a U.S. passport, a Social Security card, a voting card, and generally as proof of identification to conduct banking transactions and other business.
14. Pursuant to its Birth Certificate Policy, Puerto Rico categorically requires that birth certificates reflect the sex assigned at birth and prohibits transgender persons from correcting the gender marker in their birth certificates so that these accurately reflect the persons' sex, as determined by their gender identity.
15. Birth certificates in Puerto Rico indicate a person's birth-assigned sex based on the appearance of genitalia rather than their actual sex, as determined by their gender identity and lived experience.
16. Transgenderism is an immutable characteristic determined by the hormonal balance a person is born with. It is an innate trait caused by an individual's biological features and genetic makeup. Some scientists confirm that brain development is influenced by the prenatal environment, that is, to what hormones the fetus was exposed to in the uterus. For example, exposure to inadequate levels of estrogen during development of the fetus because of insufficient estrogen production in the fetus' immediate environment or poor receptive sensitivity in the fetus, are possible scenarios underlying insufficient feminization.
*33017. Ms. Rodriguez is 28 years old, born in Puerto Rico, and currently a resident of the District of Columbia metropolitan area. She is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico and of the University of Maine School of Law. She is a transgender who was designated "male" in her birth certificate. She learned the term transgender at the age of 14. Ms. Rodriguez kept her gender secret until she was 18 and had started college for fear of rejection by her family. In 2007, by her sophomore year, she asked her professors and others to call her by her chosen name, Victoria. Calling her 'Victoria' during the roll call prevented disclosure of her transgender status to other students. She was diagnosed that same year by her medical provider with gender dysphoria and underwent hormone therapy to relieve the condition. In 2011, while at law school, she legally changed her name and gender marker on all her identification documents, except for her birth certificate.
18. Ms. Arroyo is 18 years old, a high school graduate, transgender, designated "male" in her birth certificate, who states she never questioned that she was a girl, so informed her family when she was a young girl, and told her mother that she was a transgender at the age 14. This led her to begin at that age to socially and medically transition to align her life experience and body characteristics with her gender identity. She began hormone therapy in 2016 after having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2013. Ms. Arroyo is cofounder of the Puerto Rico Trans Youth Coalition since 2015, an organization that provides a network for transgender youth in Puerto Rico with over 200 participants. In February 2017, she legally changed her name to her current female name.

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Bluebook (online)
305 F. Supp. 3d 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-v-nevares-usdistct-2018.