Texas quietly blocks trans people from changing their gender on driver's licenses

Texas officials have quietly implemented a policy preventing transgender people from changing their gender marker on driver's licenses.

The rule, first reported on Wednesday by Austin’s NPR affiliate The Texas Newsroom, applies even if a person has updated their birth certificates, or even potentially if they have a court order. The policy was not announced to the public, and instead revealed to state employees in an email from Sheri Gipson, the chief of Texas’ Driver License Division.

“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,” the message states. “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."

Gipson explicitly told workers not to share the message with customers, adding: “This email address is for internal reporting only and should not be shared with customers."

Moab Republic/Shutterstock

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) previously had a gender change policy listed on its website, explaining that the state allowed residents to update their gender marker with a court order or updated birth certificate. The policy is no longer available on the state’s website, as reported by Huffpost.

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The change comes two years after Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton requested data from the DPS revealing how many people in the state had changed the gender marker on their licenses. The department was unable to provide the information, finding over 16,000 instances of legal gender changes which they said they would need to go through manually to learn why each change was made.

“The Department of Public Safety has a responsibility, as stated in its own name, to keep all Texans safe. This policy does the opposite," Ash Hall, policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. "Not having accurate driver's licenses jeopardizes trans people's health and safety — by potentially outing us and exposing us to discrimination, harassment, and violence."

"State agencies can’t ignore court orders nor is DPS allowed to collect or share people’s personal information for political aims," Hall continued. "This relentless targeting of transgender Texans is yet another alarming attack on our privacy, safety, and dignity. Trans people deserve to live free from persecution in Texas and everywhere else.”