Florida is facing accusations of weaponizing state agencies to target trans individuals after its department of motor vehicles (DMV) revised its policies, preventing drivers from updating their licenses to match their gender identity.
According to an internal memo first posted by Democratic representative Anna V. Eskamani, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has quietly rescinded the policy that allowed the state’s motorists to update the gender marker on their licenses.
As per the document, whose authenticity was confirmed by NBC, state officials in Florida will no longer be permitted to change drivers’ licenses to align with their gender identity. However, the department will still be able to update licenses for name changes, address changes, or restrictions.
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The memo, authored by the department’s Deputy Executive Director Robert Kynoch, asserts that gender is understood to mean “sex,” and that changing the marker to something that disagrees with, say, the gender assigned to a person at birth, constitutes fraud. Those who attempt to change the gender marker on their license could be subject to “criminal and civil penalties, including cancellation, suspension, or revocation”, according to the document.
The update to the policy was described as a “gross example of how every state agency has been weaponizes [sic] to attack trans people” by Representative Eskamani. It also leads to uncertainty for Florida drivers.
Since 2011, people in the state have been able to update the gender marker on their license without proof of gender-affirming surgery, reports 19thnews.org. It is unclear if people who changed their marker through legal means will now be accused of fraud.
“This could mean that all Florida licenses are mandated to display an individual’s ‘biological sex’ and people with existing identification may have to update them to inaccurately reflect their identity,” Arli Christian, a senior policy counsel for the ACLU said. “It is quite likely that officials may use this policy to harass any person whose license has a sex designation they disagree with, including visitors from out of state.”
Some clarity may come soon, as the agency’s policy update comes ahead of a bill that is under discussion in Florida’s state House. The law similarly seeks to ban drivers from updating the gender marker on their license if it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth. The only other state with a similar law is Kansas.
While the state agency argued that updating gender frustrates attempts to enforce state law, transgender people argue not being able to update the marker makes their daily lives much more difficult, and sometimes dangerous. Ash Orr, a spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality, told USA Today that this is just the latest harmful policy that targets trans Floridians.
“Access to identity documents is crucial in daily life, impacting activities like work, voting, travel, and engagement with government institutions,” Orr said in a statement. “Ensuring everyone, including transgender people, have accurate official documents, such as driver’s licenses, is vital for upholding our institutional rights.”
This is another gross example of how every state agency has been weaponizes to attack trans people. Instead of addressing the property insurance crisis, this is what our state is doing. Shameful. 2/2
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) January 30, 2024