 Michael Harrington, SRN News. A federal appeals court panel has ruled that Tennessee is not discriminating against transgender people by not allowing them to change the sex designation on their birth certificates. In a two-to-one decision, the 60 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found there is no fundamental right to a birth certificate recording gender identity instead of biological sex. The opinion notes only 11 states currently allow people to change their birth certificates on that basis. This is SRN News.