De la Fuente Díaz v. González Colón
Lambda Legal and co-counsel Johanna Emmanuelli Huertas represent six nonbinary people born in Puerto Rico on appeal in a challenge to the Commonwealth’s policy of denying birth certificates that accurately reflect nonbinary identities. The case is on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit after a significant victory in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
Since Lambda Legal’s victory in Arroyo González v. Rosselló Nevares in 2018, Puerto Rico allows transgender people who identify as male or female to update the gender marker on their birth certificates, but it flatly refuses to extend that same access to transgender nonbinary people. Birth certificates in Puerto Rico are not mere historical records; they are the essential documents people need to work, study, vote, and access basic rights. Forcing transgender nonbinary Puerto Ricans to carry documents that misrepresent who they are erases their identities and imposes real, daily harm. We argue that singling out nonbinary people for this unequal treatment violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The district court agreed, granting summary judgment for the plaintiffs and holding Puerto Rico’s denial unconstitutional. The Puerto Rico government appealed, and Lambda Legal joined the case as co-counsel to defend that ruling before the First Circuit. Oral argument was held in April 2026.
- October 2023: Attorney Johanna Emmanuelli Huertas files a federal lawsuit on behalf of six nonbinary plaintiffs seeking an accurate birth certificate with an “X” gender marker.
- May 30, 2025: The U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico grants summary judgment for the plaintiffs, ruling that Puerto Rico’s refusal to issue birth certificates with an “X” gender marker violates the Equal Protection Clause.
- July 1, 2025: The Puerto Rico government appeals the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
- October 2025: Lambda Legal joins the case as co-counsel.
- November 7, 2025: Lambda Legal files a brief on behalf of the plaintiffs urging the First Circuit to uphold the district court’s ruling.
- April 9, 2026: Lambda Legal argues before the First Circuit that Puerto Rico cannot single out nonbinary people for unequal treatment by denying them accurate identity documents available to everyone else.