A close up of a sample Colorado drivers license with an “x” as the gender identifier. Photo: Colorado Department of Revenue
Trans people in Texas can no longer amend the gender markers on their driver’s licenses to align with their gender identity, the Texas Tribune reports.
According to an internal email from the Department of Public Safety, even if a trans person presents the state with a certified court order or an amended birth certificate, the gender marker on their driver’s license cannot be altered unless the state made a clerical error.
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Sheri Gipson, the chief of the Driver License Division at the Texas Department of Public Safety, confirmed the change to the KUT News on Wednesday.
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On Wednesday, a Department of Public Safety spokesperson said, “The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has recently raised concerns regarding the validity of court orders being issued which purport to order state agencies to change the sex of individuals in government records, including driver licenses and birth certificates.”
“Neither DPS nor other government agencies are parties to the proceedings that result in the issuance of these court orders, and the lack of legislative authority and evidentiary standards for the courts to issue these orders has resulted in the need for a comprehensive legal review by DPS and the OAG.”
“Therefore, DPS has stopped accepting these court orders as a basis to change sex identification in department records, including driver licenses.”
The policy change means that vulnerable Texans are at an increased risk of harassment or discrimination in a wide range of environments: from applying for a job to going to the airport. It is expected to impact around 93,000 people.
Brad Pritchett, the interim chief executive of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Texas, said that “just like people who change their names after marriage want their correct name on their license, trans Texans want their driver’s license to reflect their gender. We use our IDs to navigate all areas of life: driving, voting, employment. Having an ID that reflects who you are is a basic form of dignity that many take for granted.”
“Texans will now be subject to involuntary surveillance for simply trying to update a government document,” said Pritchett in another statement. “There is no clear reason why this information would be useful to the DPS nor is there a legitimate reason to deny gender marker updates on driver’s licenses.”
Ian Pittman is an Austin attorney who works with transgender Texans, and in the wake of the change, he has started advising his clients not to submit court orders to the state for fear they may be targeted.
