Texas DPS Gender Marker Policy Change To Be Addressed at Webinar

Equality Texas will be hosting a Zoom info meeting on Wednesday, August 28 @ 6:00PM to address the changes to the state policy according to a updated Instagram post .

Six legal experts and community advocates will discuss the unannounced driver's license and state ID gender marker policy changes.

Those prensenting are Shelly Skeen from @lambdalegal, Rachel Gonzales from @HumanRightsCampaign @HRC_Texas Petey Makopoulos-Senftleber from @translegalaidtx, Sofia Sepulveda (@sofia_in_texas) from @equalitytexas, and Ash Hall (@ashoftexas) from @aclutx.

Those who wish to attend will be reaquired to register in advance and can do so at linktr.ee/equalitytexas.

Texas is no longer accepting Court Ordered Gender Updates For Driver Licenses

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton at a border security briefing at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Jan. 27, 2022. (Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune)

On Tuesday the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) stopped recognizing court-ordered gender updates on driver licenses and state IDs. The policy change came without warning or public notice leaving nearly 100,000 transgender Texans in legal, emotional, and physical jeopardy.

UPDATE: Texas DPS Gender Marker Policy Change To Be Addressed at Webinar on Sept 28 6 pm central

There is no legal or legislative mandate for this draconian directive, only hate. Listen to a recording by special investigative reporter Steven Monacelli when Gregg Abbott addresses young Conservatives and promises to "end" transgender and non-binary people living in Texas.

Taking away our identification that we must have to work, use public accomidations and vote is the first step.

Here's the audio of when Texas Governor Greg Abbott suggested he wants to ban trans and gender nonconforming people from being public school teachers in Texas. pic.twitter.com/AHAWtj483I

— steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) April 20, 2024

The ACLU said in a statement "The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) ordered employees Tuesday to no longer allow transgender Texans to change the gender markers on their driver’s licenses or state IDs. The new policy allegedly would block updates even when the agency is required to make them by court order."

"In an internal email, DPS also instructs employees to report any attempt by Texans to update the gender listed on their documents. The policy change reflects the latest attempt by members of the state government to target and discriminate against transgender Texans."

Under previous DPS rules, people were able to change the sex on their driver's license if there was a clerical error, or if they presented an amended birth certificate or an original certified court record, the Texas Tribune reports.

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.

It is not clear how that information will be used. Two years ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton directed employees at DPS to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender on their Texas driver’s licenses and other department records.

President Biden: Florida Trans People are dying! Act now to stop this travesty

Dozens of activists held die-ins at Florida DMV's

A Trans Floridian with a driver's license correctly identifying their legal gender is now committing fraud and soon a felony. Biden can stop this by enforcing The Real ID Act which is currently set to go into effect in 2025.

Up until Feburary 2024 trans Floridians were free to amend gender on legal documents, including state IDs and driver's licenses. But that has changed, illegally, under the fascist Desantis regime.

In a written statement to WMFE News, FLHSMV Director of Communications Molly Best said the agency requires satisfactory proof of identity, including biological sex, to obtain a driver's license.

“In Florida, you do not get to play identity politics with your driver license,” Best said. “No changes have been made to the process of establishing gender on a newly issued Florida credential, governed by s. 322.08, F.S.”

And according to the Jan. 26 memo from FLHSMV Deputy Executive Director Robert Kynoch: “misrepresenting one’s gender, understood as sex, on a driver license constitutes fraud,” and can lead to criminal and civil penalties.

When asked what the change means for Floridians who have already changed the gender marker on their driver’s license, per the previous guidance, Best did not respond to WMFE directly, only saying the previous guidance is not supported by statutory authority.

Right now, Florida lawmakers are considering a House proposal (HB 1639) that would enshrine the recent agency memo in state law: by requiring licenses to reflect a person’s sex, based on “the person’s sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth.”

Florida Dem Congresspeople To Biden: Block Trans License Ban With Real ID Act

If the Biden administration remains silent this will spread like a cancer to other states. You will not only fail them but the nation as a whole. Now we understand that the orange thug isn't an option but you got our votes in 2020 by a statement that you understood that transgender rights are the civil rights issue of our generation. It's time for you to put up or get the hell out of the way.