New DPS Policy Prohibits Transgender People from Changing Sex on Driver License

Texans can no longer change the sex listed on their driver license, according to a report from KUT in Austin. The new policy, effective immediately, blocks the ability of transgender Texans who want to have the information on their state identification in alignment with their gender identity.

The only reason a person can change the sex as listed on a driver license in Texas is to fix a clerical error. Before the policy switch, people could make the change “by bringing an original certified court order or an amended birth certificate verifying the change,” the KUT report states.

Over the last few years, the state government and certain Texas school districts have focused efforts toward restricting gender-affirming care and the way in which transgender students can be identified by their preferred gender identity.

Until very recently, people in all 50 states were allowed to change the sex on their state-issued identification, although the process varied from state to state. Texas isn’t the first to announce this sort of policy shift, but it is one of a small number of states that have removed such an ability.

Missouri recently began requiring a surgeon's note that a person has undergone gender reassignment surgery before the sex can be changed on a license. Florida stopped allowing gender changes to state identification in January. As in Texas, neither Missouri nor Florida’s decisions were the result of new laws.

Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas, said that this decision in Texas denies trans people a minimum level of respect. He pointed out that Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton attempted to obtain driver’s license data of trans Texans not that long ago.

“Updating a gender marker in the state of Texas is a complicated process that requires the time, energy and resources to secure a court order,” Pritchett explained in an email to the Observer. “If Texas agencies are free to ignore Texas court orders, what other parts of the law will they ignore? Yesterday the Department of Public Safety announced that it would ignore orders from Texas judges.”

According to a statement provided to the Observer by the DPS, Paxton isn't so sure about the court orders that Pritchett mentioned.

"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 — including DPS — to change the sex of individuals in government records, including driver licenses and birth certificates," the statement read. "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."

For the trans community, having an accurate M or F on their license is more than a minor clerical matter.

“There are 92,900 trans adults in Texas,” Pritchett said. “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.”