A transgender U.S. Coast Guard veteran and a Wisconsin legal advocacy organization are challenging a decades-old state law that requires transgender and intersex people to undergo surgery before they can correct the sex marker on their birth certificates.
The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Wisconsin and attorneys from Willkie Farr & Gallagher on behalf of Trans Law Help Wisconsin and Jaida Birch McGuire, argues that Wisconsin’s requirement violates equal protection guarantees under the state constitution.
At issue is Wisconsin Statute 69.15, which allows transgender and intersex people to petition a court to change the sex designation on a birth certificate only after undergoing what the law calls a “surgical sex-change procedure.” The statute dates to 1985 and does not clearly define what procedures satisfy that requirement.
That ambiguity has created inconsistent standards. ACLU attorney Jade Hall told Wisconsin Public Radio that some judges have required top or bottom surgery, while others have accepted hormone replacement therapy or other forms of gender-affirming treatment.
A Veteran Caught Between Two Government Policies
McGuire, who was born in Oshkosh, began transitioning in 2021 while serving in the Coast Guard. According to the lawsuit, the military permitted her to wear women’s uniforms and provided gender-affirming healthcare after she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
She had also been pursuing gender-affirming surgeries.
Those plans were disrupted after President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting transgender military service. McGuire was forced to retire from the Coast Guard in 2025, according to the lawsuit, and lost military coverage for the procedures she had been planning. She had reportedly been just one week away from receiving a date for facial feminization surgery.
The result is an especially striking bureaucratic catch: one government policy eliminated McGuire’s access to surgery, while another makes surgery a condition for obtaining an accurate birth certificate.
More Than a Piece of Paper
The lawsuit argues that the consequences extend beyond the marker printed on a document. Birth certificates can be required when applying for jobs or benefits, obtaining other identification, opening bank accounts, enrolling in school, or securing passports.
When documents do not match a transgender person’s identity or other identification, they can also involuntarily disclose that person’s transgender status.
The ACLU argues that Wisconsin effectively forces transgender people to undergo medical procedures they may not want, need, be able to afford, or medically qualify for simply to receive identification reflecting who they are.
The case has been assigned to Dane County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke. Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Kirsten Johnson are named as defendants. Evers’ office declined to comment on the pending litigation.
For transgender Wisconsinites, the lawsuit raises a straightforward question: Should legal recognition of someone’s identity depend on what surgeries they have undergone?
The plaintiffs argue the Wisconsin Constitution says no.
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