Mere weeks after news broke that the State of Oklahoma had issued its first non-binary birth certificate, Governor Stitt has issued an executive order banning the Health Department from issuing any additional birth certificates with an “X” gender marker.
This latest order is in direct contradiction to a settlement agreement approved by Governor Stitt’s appointee to lead the Health Department, Dr. Lance Frye, and which was subsequently enacted by the office of Governor Stitt’s newly appointed Attorney General John O’Connor.
The settlement instructs the Oklahoma Department of Health (OSDH) to “update its website and standard correspondence to inquiring parties to indicate that it will issue a birth certificate with “X” upon receipt of an Oklahoma trial court order” which, in effect, creates a “non-binary” designation.
Court records indicate the settlement was signed by plaintiff Kit Lorelied on May 14, 2021, and by OSDH Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Lepard three days later. However, the non-binary birth certificate could not be issued until the State agreed to abide by an Oregon court order which legally recognized Lorelied as non-binary.
It was August 25, 2021, when that happened in the form of an Unopposed Order Registering Foreign Judgement. The filing was signed by Assistant Attorney General Bryan Cleveland after sources say he received approval from newly appointed Attorney General John O’Connor.
In the order, Oklahoma County District Judge Aletia Timmons writes “…the Department is hereby ordered to amend the sex of the Petitioner to a nonbinary designation on Petitioner’s birth certificate.”
When news of the historic birth certificate issuance broke, Governor Stitt’s criticism was harsh and swift.
“I believe that people are created by God to be male or female. Period,” said Governor Stitt. “There is no such thing as non-binary sex and I wholeheartedly condemn the purported OSDH court settlement that was entered into by rogue activists without receiving proper approval or oversight.”
Foreshadowing yesterday’s executive order, Stitt added, “I will be taking whatever action necessary to protect Oklahoma values and our way of life.”
It is unclear what force the order will have if challenged, given the prior legal settlement.
Stitt also requested the Legislature consider writing a law which defines the gender markers allowed on birth certificates. Senator Micheal Bergstrom has filed Senate Bill 1100 to require male and female to be the only options on Oklahoma birth certificates.
