Judge With History of Democratic Donations Rules Montana Must Issue Nonbinary Driver’s License

A Montana district court judge who has a history of donating to Democratic causes said the state’s efforts not to give a nonbinary person a driver’s license violated the state Constitution.

Judge Shane Vannatta ruled last week that M.B., who is a minor, was entitled to receive a driver’s license that recognized the gender on the birth certificate, which is nonbinary.

Vannatta also said the state violated the Montana Human Rights Act, which prevents people from being discriminated against based on sex, religion and other factors.

According to the ruling, Montana can’t deny future applicants who meet all the legal requirements to obtain a driver’s license and want to list their legal sex as non-binary.

This legal case began in 2022 when M.B. went to obtain a driver’s license in Missoula.

On April 22, 2022, after passing the driving test and the Montana Traffic Education Course, M.B. attempted to fill out the part of the application form listing off a person’s sex, but the only two boxes on it were male and female. The ruling said he wrote “NB,” standing for non-binary instead.

Sara and Bryan Berndt, who are M.B.’s parents and plaintiffs in the case, spoke to the Montana Motor Vehicles Division Bureau Chief Rebecca Connors about the situation five days later. Connors told the Berndts that the state had never issued a driver’s license to a non-binary person, the ruling stated.

On July 22, 2022, the Berndts filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Commission (MHRC), which issued a report on Jan. 17, 2023, saying that “unlawful discrimination” had occurred in their child’s case, the ruling noted.

A hearing officer on Dec. 26, 2023, awarded the Berndts affirmative relief and told the state to issue a driver’s license with a “non-binary sex designation,” the ruling stated.

The Montana Department of Justice (DOJ) appealed the decision, and the MHRC issued a “Final Agency Decision” that ruled in favor of the DOJ, the ruling said.

Vannatta reversed MHRC’s ruling and reinstated the hearing officer’s ruling.

In the ruling, the judge said the DOJ did not cite a law that showed only a “male or female is a ‘qualified applicant.”

“The State of Montana issued M.B. a birth certificate with designation of NB. Then the DMV denied M.B. the ability to obtain a driver’s license when they listed their legal sex as NB while, at the same time, allowing applicants who list their legal sex as either male or female to obtain a driver’s license,” Vannatta wrote.

“This is arbitrary and discriminatory state action that does not treat all applicants for a driver’s license alike under like circumstances and therefore it is unlawful under Montana’s equal protection clause,” he added.

In a previous case regarding gender, Vannatta, who is Montana’s first openly gay judge, struck down a state law last year that defined sex as being only male or female.

On top of this, he also blocked state law preventing biological males from going into spaces designated for women, such as locker rooms and sleeping quarters. After blocking the ruling, Vannatta recused himself from the case due to the State of Montana’s attempt to have him disqualified from it.

Montana argued the judge’s past social media activity and affiliation with the American Bar Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Commission could affect his judgment, the Daily Montanan reported.

Before former Gov. Steve Bullock appointed Vannatta as a judge in 2019, he had a history of donating to Democratic causes.

Vannatta donated $4,609 to Democratic causes from 2008 to 2018, including to the Montana Democratic Party, former Senators Jon Tester and John Walsh, former President Barack Obama, as well as former congressional candidates John Heenan and John Lewis.

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Vannatta donated $1,200 to Heenan and $1,000 to Tester.

These donations were made when Vannatta worked as an attorney in the Missoula area.