Texas DPS May Begin Reverting Trans People's Valid Drivers Licenses

Last month, Texas stopped processing drivers license gender changes, even with a court order. Now, a letter shows they may begin reverting valid licenses for trans people who previously changed it.

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Last month, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced it would stop processing gender marker changes on driver's licenses for transgender people who amend their birth certificates. The department also stated it would no longer process name changes if they accompanied gender marker updates and would disregard court orders updating transgender individuals' legal gender. Now, a new email from the Texas DPS reveals that these policies will not only apply to new gender marker changes but could also be used to revoke previous name and gender marker changes for transgender people who already have a valid driver’s license with updated information.

The original letter from the Texas Department of Public Safety in late August stated, "effective immediately, the department will not accept court orders or amended birth certificates that change the sex when it differs from the documentation already on file." It further explained that if someone presents a court order that includes both a name and sex marker change, the entire order would be considered invalid, preventing the trans person from even updating their name on their driver's license. Perhaps most troublingly, all trans people seeking such changes would have their name and information emailed to an internal email account, creating a defacto database of such people.

A new letter from DPS Director Steven C. McCraw to Attorney General Ken Paxton has now been made public. In the letter, McCraw poses clarifying questions that suggest the potential future actions the DPS may take in targeting transgender individuals in the state.

Toward the end of the letter, McCraw writes, "DPS may have altered many government sex records in mistaken reliance on court orders that either (a) lacked any basis in law or authority to bind DPS or (b) were not relevant proof under statutory authority to correct mistaken records of an individual's sex. On other occasions, when DPS has made an erroneous entry to a person's record, the agency has on its own initiative corrected such a mistake, including by issuing a new driver's license to the person concerned and directing the person to destroy the old license." He goes on to ask, "If DPS’s past changes to applicants’ ‘sex’ based on gender-change orders were inconsistent with state law, may DPS voluntarily correct its own introduction of inaccurate sex information?"

New DPS letter - Page 4 - Potential revocation of drivers licenses

The threat marks a significant escalation in policies targeting transgender adults. Texas driver's licenses are valid for up to eight years, leading many transgender individuals to believe they are safe after updating their documents. Some may choose to wait out potential court rulings, confident that their licenses remain valid in the meantime. However, these individuals could face a harsh reality if the DPS begins systematically revoking their licenses and reissuing old ones with a different gender marker, and potentially, their former names.

In recent months, several states have started targeting the driver's licenses of transgender individuals. In Kansas, Attorney General Kris Kobach announced his intention to reverse driver's license changes for transgender people. In Florida, a letter indicated that individuals who change their driver's license gender markers could potentially be charged with criminal fraud. Missouri has also tightened regulations on gender marker changes for driver's licenses, preventing many from being able to update their documents.

These policies have already been tested in court, with the Trump-appointed 11th Circuit recently upholding Alabama’s restrictions on transgender driver’s licenses requiring forced sterilization, ruling that such a policy does not violate equal protection rights of transgender people. This decision, along with similar rulings in other circuits on equal protection, has signaled to many Republican officials that almost any law restricting the rights of transgender people could stand up in court. As the Supreme Court prepares to address the constitutional rights of transgender individuals, many GOP lawmakers aren't waiting for the decision. Instead, they are pressing forward with measures to crack down on transgender rights, assuming their actions will ultimately be upheld as legal.