Attorney General Ken Paxton, shown in May 26, 2023 photo. Photo: Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK
Transgender Texans are no longer able to change the gender marker on their state IDs, including if they have a court order or they have an amended birth certificate, according to KUT.
The only way Texans can change the gender marker is if it’s demonstrated to be a clerical error. However, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), this is no longer in effect. The previous DPS rules were quietly removed from their website yesterday. A spokesperson for the DPS blamed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) for the change.
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“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 agency told KUT.
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“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, as of Aug. 20, 2024, DPS has stopped accepting these court orders as a basis to change sex identification in department records–including driver licenses,” the agency added.
Ian Pittman, an attorney who works with trans Texans, told The Texas Tribunethat the policy change opens up heavy privacy concerns for trans Texans as they’re forced to have an ID that doesn’t match their gender. This can lead to discrimination, harassment, and violence, as well as difficulty accessing services that require ID.
This is now backed up by policy at the DPS as the department will document and scan any birth certificate changes or court orders into the DPS system without being used to process any changes to gender marker.
“It will put people on a list that could interfere with their health care,” he said, advising trans Texans to not submit court orders to the DPS.
This comes in the midst of additional attempts to block trans people from changing their ID markers in states like Florida and Kansas, along with numerous anti-LGBTQ measures by Paxton and Texas Gov. Greg Abott (R). Two years ago, Paxton required employees at DPS to compile a list of individuals who have requested a change to their gender marker.
“Texans will now be subject to involuntary surveillance for simply trying to update a government document,” Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas, said in a 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.”
