Transgender individuals in Texas unable to change gender on state IDs

Transgender people in Texas are no longer able to change their gender on their state-issued IDs or driver’s licenses. This change was implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which stopped accepting court orders for changing gender markers citing concerns raised by the state attorney general’s office about the validity of such orders. This means that the gender listed on a person’s license or ID will now reflect the sex listed on their primary document presented upon original application. The ACLU of Texas and Equality Texas have spoken out against this policy, stating that it jeopardizes the health and safety of transgender individuals by potentially outing them to discrimination, harassment, and violence. The Transgender Education Network of Texas emphasized that transgender people have the right to live without being demonized and disrupted, and that restricting their ability to change their gender on their ID will cause harm to the community. Despite the change, Texans will still be able to pursue gender marker changes through the court system. This policy shift has sparked backlash from advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights who argue that having an ID that reflects one’s true gender is a basic form of dignity that should not be denied.

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