The U.S. Department of Justice has entered the fray in a New Jersey transgender rights suit in hopes of averting a constitutional challenge over protections granted under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In a statement of interest filed Monday, the Justice Department asked the judge in the case not to address the plaintiff’s assertion in Doe v. Arrisi that a provision of the ADA denying protection to “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments” is unconstitutional. The suit seeks to overturn a New Jersey law which prevents a transgender person to change the sex noted on the birth certificate unless the person had surgery to change the gender.
