AUSTIN, Texas —
LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are working on next steps after a new Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) policy could leave tens of thousands of transgender Texans in legal limbo.
The ACLU of Texas and Equality Texas discovered from an internal memo on Wednesday that the department will no longer accept court orders to change gender markers on driver's licenses.
Ash Hall is the Policy and Advocacy strategist on LGBTQIA+ rights for the ACLU. They said the ACLU is investigating how many state and federal laws DPS could be violating,
Hall told KVUE that DPS cannot ignore court orders and cannot change policy without input from the public.
"This is very much a case of discrimination. This is pretty obviously designed to keep transgender people for having a driver's license that matches their gender identity. It's designed to render transgender Texans invisible even though we've always been here. And it's part of this ongoing attack against transgender people that we've been seeing by our state leadership for years now," Hall said.
Brad Pritchett is the interim CEO for Equality Texas. He said he heard about the policy change Wednesday morning, and several people have already reached out to his group for help.
Pritchett described the new policy as upsetting because he believes having identification that accurately reflects who you are is the bare minimum of respect. He said the change could create legal issues for the 93,000 Texans who identify as transgender.
Pritchett said when your driver's license doesn't match up with other documents, like your passport, that can create issues. He also wanted to know why the DPS did not notify the public about the change.
In 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the DPS to compile a list of individuals who changed their gender on their driver's licenses. Pritchett said that makes the timing of this new policy a big coincidence.
"What we've seen in Texas, unfortunately, is state agencies continually being weaponized against transgender people. So, it's 100% designed, in my opinion, to target transgender Texans,” Pritchett said.
Pritchett said his team is working with legal partners like the ACLU and Lambda Legal to figure out next steps. He encourages anyone with concerns to call Equality Texas.
KVUE reached out to DPS about the new policy. The agency provided the following statement in response:
“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.”