TEXAS, USA — Under a new policy in Texas, as of Tuesday, Aug. 20, people who identify as transgender will no longer be allowed to change their sex listed on their driver's license.
Advocacy groups in West Texas are arguing this is an unjust ban denying them the right to have documentation that reflects who they are.
Matilda Mann-Morales (she/they), the president of Out in West Texas, said this policy feels like a blindside.
"[I'm] just frustrated, they're trying to push this as fast as they can without anyone's notice, just totally blindsiding everyone,” said Mann-Morales.
The Texas Department of Public Safety sent NewsWest 9 the following statement in regards to the new regulation:
"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. 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." - Texas Department of Public Safety
Transgender Texans could previously change the sex listed on their driver’s license by bringing an original certified court order or an amended birth certificate verifying the change, according to an archived version of the DPS license website.
As of Wednesday, this information was no longer on the website.
Mann-Morales claimed this was not the first time the LGBTQ+ community has felt this kind of pushback from legislation.
"Last year, [Ken Paxton] did try to put people who have ever changed their gender marker on a list, so this is just part two, he's trying to [do] it again," Mann-Morales said. "What Ken Paxton, from his office, is requesting from the DPS is that whenever there is a court order for any gender marker change that it be sent to the office and put on a list and until further notice.”
Their response was a feeling of shock. Mann-Morales said they feel keeping a list not only targets a specific community, but it also violates their right to privacy and dignity.
“I should be able to update government information based on myself with how I know myself to be in my deepest soul and that shouldn't be recorded and catalogued and put in a place where unsavory people can see it," Mann-Morales said. "People who definitely don't have my best interest and people like myself at heart, it's a violation of privacy and it's another thing that I feel is just done to purely scare us and force us into the closet."
Advocates say not being able to have government documents that reflect a person's preferred sex can cause emotional stress and add new obstacles in their daily lives.
Morales said they feel this is just another thing to, "mark us legally so that people will know this person is trans."
They said, with the public knowing that information, it gives them the ability to treat people who identify as trans however they want now.
"Knowing that information and legally, they can just be aloof and say, 'oh well, someone got to this apartment first,' or 'sorry I didn't return your email, we have to reschedule your very important medical procedure,'" Mann-Morales said.
Texas is now the third state, along with Florida and Kansas, to block sex changes on a license.
Now, community leaders like Mann-Morales are worried what this means for the future.
“It makes me really upset," Mann-Morales said, "It's putting everyone on a list, creating a surveillance state now, but purely for transgender people.”