Texas officials seek to reverse transgender ID changes

Texas officials are seeking to reverse gender marker changes that trans people have already legally received on their driver's licenses and state ID cards, according to a letter sent by the head of the state's Department of Public Safety to the Texas attorney general.

Transgender Texans previously had the option to change their name and gender designations on state documents by filing a request for a court order with a judge. The process was fairly simple and required the submission of evidence such as a letter from a therapist or documentation from a surgeon or gender-affirming care provider.

But in August, after the attorney general's office raised concerns about the “validity of court orders” used to make gender-marking changes, the Department of Public Safety said tacitly issued a policy Individuals are prohibited from updating their gender markers even if they have officially changed their birth certificates or received court-ordered changes.

The department's director, Steve McCraw, now appears to be seeking permission to make changes to ID cards issued before the new rules took effect.

He sent in mid-September a letter to Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, asking whether the agency could “voluntarily” change back gender markers on state ID cards and driver’s licenses.

When applying for a court order, the person requests a name or gender change from a Texas judge. McCraw noted that DPS is not a party to the lawsuit and questioned whether the agency was forced to comply with these court-ordered gender-marking changes even though DPS's internal policies now prohibited them.

He also asked for guidance on what constitutes “satisfactory evidence” of these changes, arguing that court orders are essentially not sufficient “evidence” of gender transition because gender is a “fixed and biological fact.” Citing a definition of sex from a 1949 edition of Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, McCraw points out that a person's chromosomal makeup alone determines their sex – a definition that biologists and lawyers say is not only outdated, but also completely ignores the existence of people with chromosomal or intersex conditions.

It remains to be seen whether Paxton will respond McCraw's Questions and concerns regarding the authority of state courts.

Neither Paxton's office nor the Department of Public Safety responded to HuffPost's request for comment.

“DPS has already changed its policy on updating gender markers and is only now questioning whether it is legal?” Brad Pritchett, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Texas, told HuffPost. “DPS’ request for a non-binding legal opinion on the status of court orders updating gender markers underscores the chaos created by Paxton’s indiscriminate attack on the trans community in Texas.”

When DPS implemented its policy over the summer, it resulted in an almost “total blockade on the use of court orders” to influence both name and gender changes for trans Texans, said Helena Braden, the media director for the San Antonio Gender Association, a trans nonprofit -Support and advocacy.

Paxton has long sought data on the number of Texans who have requested a change to the gender marker on their licenses. In 2022 he will requested a list of people who have changed their gender, but DPS officials told Paxton at the time that the data “neither exists nor could be accurately created.”

But DPS policy adopted in August could make that data collection easier, Braden said.

The policy directs DPS employees to send the names and identification numbers of individuals requesting a gender marker change to an internal DPS email address and to “scan into the file” any documentation of court-ordered changes.

“They seem to be using some of it [requests] “That will be presented to them to compile a semi-secret list … of everything we can collect, with the goal of releasing it in the next legislative session in support of anti-trans legislation,” Braden said.

Paxton has requested extensive data on transgender residents. He has researched and sought out hospitals, LGBTQ+ organizations, and gender-affirming care providers medical data by Texans living both in and outside the state. He also compared gender-equitable care for young people “child abuse” in a non-binding legal opinion cited by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a letter The state Department of Family and Protective Services is directed to investigate parents who provide gender-specific care to their children.

“Paxton is a bull in a china shop – ready to trample on anything that comes his way in his ruthless campaign to make life miserable for transgender people, including undermining the power of the Texas courts,” Pritchett said.

Braden said it appears to be “fiscally impracticable” for the department to reverse any lawfully obtained change to the gender marker on a state ID card or license, but she expects DPS will try to do so and, in particular, that it will try to imprison individuals to address those who need to renew their licenses.

In the meantime, Braden, who leads the largest trans support group in the region, is urging trans Texans who have yet to update their documents to try to do so — and seek separate court orders for a legal name change and a legal gender marker change. That way, she says, people can at least update their driver's license with their correct name, even if they're prohibited from using the court order to change gender markers. It also urges people to update their Social Security cards and passports, which are federal documents, and that new citizens must first update their birth certificates in their home state to get the correct gender on a new state driver's license.

“I just hear an incredible amount of desperation about the situation. “Some people who were doing well before are suddenly wondering if there is even a future for them in Texas,” said Braden, who was unable to update her birth certificate because of a separate new anti-trans policy in the state. “The mood in the community is such that if you want to survive at all, you assume you are a refugee.”

Texas is one of at least five statesalong with Florida, Montana, Arkansas and Missouri to enact policies banning transgender people from updating their driver's licenses, birth certificates and state ID cards – and some legal experts believe these measures violate federal law.