Transgender residents in North Carolina, Montana file lawsuits challenging new state restrictions

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender residents of North Carolina and Montana added to a growing list of lawsuits challenging the recent onslaught of Republican state laws aimed at transgender individuals. In North Carolina, the family of a transgender boy is suing the state to block implementation of gender-affirming care restrictions that they say will force their son to undergo a wrong-gender puberty. In Montana, transgender, nonbinary, intersex and other plaintiffs are challenging a new state law defining the term “sex” as meaning only male or female. They argue the law denies legal recognition and protections to people who are gender-nonconforming.