Transgender Texans will not be able to change the sex listed on their driver’s licenses, according to a policy change rolled out this week.
Under the new policy, Texans will not be able to change the sex on their licenses unless it is to fix a clerical error. Sheri Gipson, the chief of the Driver License Division at the Texas Department of Public Safety, confirmed the change when reached by phone on Wednesday.
The change comes as conservative states across the country move to make it more difficult for transgender Texans to update their documents with the sex that matches their gender identity. Similar steps have recently been taken in Florida, Kansas and Montana.
Civil rights advocates in Florida argue the move violated federal laws meant to keeping license rules consistent across states, according to The 19th*.
Transgender Texans could previously change the sex listed on their driver’s license by bringing an original certified court order or an amended birth certificate verifying the change, according to an archived version of the Department of Public Safety license website.
As of Wednesday, this information was no longer on the website.
[…]
According to this email, the policy went into effect Tuesday.
“Effective immediately, August 20, 2024, the Department will not accept court orders or amended birth certificates issued that change the sex when it differs from documentation already on file,” Gipson wrote, according to a screenshot of the email sent to The Texas Newsroom.
The email noted that the Office of the Director was reviewing the “validity” of “such documents … to ensure that all state and federal guidelines are being met.”
“For current DL/ID holders, the sex established at the time of original application and listed in the driver record will not be changed unless there was a clerical error. The sex will reflect the sex listed on the primary document presented upon original application that is already on file,” the email read.
“If a first-time applicant presents conflicting documents, such as a birth certificate with a court order requiring a sex change, the sex listed on the original birth certificate will take precedence to record the sex.”
The idea that a state agency could on its own just decide to ignore a class of court orders absolutely blows my mind. I mean, there’s so much about this that’s screwed up it’s hard to know where to begin, but that’s what stood out to me.
I have to assume there’s a lot more to come. This directive came from someone, it didn’t come from a vacuum. I assume there will be litigation, though it’s hard for me to feel any optimism about it, whether it goes via state or federal court. One also has to wonder what effect this could have on people’s ability to cast a ballot, if their drivers license doesn’t accurately reflect their gender. That may not turn out to be relevant, but I’m going to worry about it until I am reassured otherwise. There are also concerns about DPS collecting data to be weaponized against transgender individuals. You may recall Ken Paxton’s unsuccessful fishing operation from two years ago for how that might play out. The Trib gets into that.
Transgender Texans are now effectively barred from obtaining an accurate foundational government document and could become especially vulnerable to discrimination and harassment, said Ian Pittman, an Austin attorney who works with transgender Texans. The change has also raised privacy concerns from advocates of transgender people who worry their personal information will be used with malicious intent.
The internal email directs driver license employees to send the names and identification numbers of people seeking to change their sex on their license to a particular email address with the subject line “Sex Change Court Order.”
Employees are also instructed to “scan into the record” court orders or other documentation relating to the sex change request.
[…]
Pittman, the attorney who represents transgender people, is advising his clients to hold off on submitting court orders to the state because he worries they could be targeted.
“It will put people on a list that could interfere with their health care,” Pittman said. The state has already passed a gender-affirming care ban for minors, and Pittman worries that could be expanded to adults in Texas.
This is scary stuff. I’m stunned and outraged that over 90K adult Texans are essentially being told that they don’t exist. If the DPS feels empowered to do this, who might they go after next? The Chron and the Current have more.
Project 2025 is alive and flourishing here in Texas.
It would not surprise me if doctors were allowed to sterilize women of color the way they did back When America was great.
What a surprise: “The change was prompted by the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s concerns about “the validity” of court orders.” Because the DPS and Paxton’s office need to take some time to decide whether courts actually have authority over them.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/21/transgender-texans-drivers-license-DPS/
@Kufff~
Re: “This is scary stuff. I’m stunned and outraged that over 90K adult Texans are essentially being told that they don’t exist.”
90K Texans being told they don’t exist because DPS isn’t changing (going forward) the gender box on an issued drivers license ? What are the personal prohibitions one would experience if the gender on their previously issued license doesn’t match with what/how the individual is now identifying ?
Re: “There are also concerns about DPS collecting data to be weaponized against transgender individuals.” So… if DPS is no longer going to make the driver’s license change, wouldn’t that eliminate the abilty of DPS to track individuals who are now indentifying as a different gender (based on a request to have their license changed)…or is the concern DPS is not going to just shitcan the requests entirely but is instead going to compile a database of who requested the change ?
Trying to wrap my head around this one…
C. L., if a trans female is arrested, the gender on the State ID can be used to put her in a male jail and instant jeopardy. The article states that DPS is directed to send info on anyone trying to change a gender marker to a particular email address. Paxton wants this info. He doesn’t care at all if something is legal or illegal, he does whatever he wants, with zero accountability.
Project 1836.
Try harder, perform less.
There is not any mystery to what is going on here. Powerful religious zealots with huge amounts of cash have decided that trans people are not part of God’s plan and must be eliminated from American life. These zealots own the Texas government, and so Texas is carrying out their demands, step by step.
They are the easiest group to pick on. I recall that even the Democratic Party was not as welcoming of the transgender. At least, that is how Leslie Perez felt about the Gay Community at the end, based on what she told me.
I considered Leslie Perez a friend, not close, but a friend.
https://www.houstonlgbthistory.org/misc-perez.html
It is illegal, unconstitutional, and un-American for the State to target a group like this, but the Christian attackers have found their perfect tool in lawless AG Ken Paxton.