SAN ANTONIO — Thousands of transgender Texans are no longer able to alter their gender identities on driver’s licenses following a policy change by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Sofia Sepulveda, a trans woman living in San Antonio, has been fighting for the equal rights of the LBGTQ+ community in Texas for years. She serves as the field director for the advocacy group, Equality Texas.
“Ever since I could remember, I’ve been who I am,” Sepulveda said. “They’re (other members of transgender community) not going to be able to make the changes that I was able to make and they’re not going to be able to really live without fear,” Sepulveda said.
Equality Texas and the ACLU of Texas were among the groups that obtained access to an email that was sent to employees within the Texas DPS Driver License Division. The policy calls for Texas DPS staff to reject certified court orders for changing gender markings on driver’s licenses.
“Effective immediately, August 20, 2024, the Department will not accept court orders or amended birth certificates issued that change the sex when it differs from documentation already on file. The validity of such documents is currently under review by Office of the Director to ensure that all state and federal guidelines are being met,” the email reads, authored by Sheri Gipson, chief of the Texas DPS Driver License Division.
So-called “clerical errors” are noted in the email as exceptions to a gender identification change on a driver’s license.
The email details a requirement for staff to document requests for court ordered sex changes.
“Changes resulting from clerical errors do not need to be reported,” the email states. “Customer escalation will be handled through chain-of-command.”
Brad Pritchett, interim director of Equality Texas, stressed the new rule is proving problematic for some of the 93,000 transgender Texans. Pritchett also criticized the absence of transparency with the public on the development of the Texas DPS policy.
“Right now, there is still a process for folks to change their gender marker on a lot of identity documents that can still be used for the things that we would need them for in everyday life,” Pritchett said. “We would tell people to not try to go to DPS right now and do it because you’re going to be denied. We’ve already had several members of the community call us saying that they’ve been turned away after trying to change their gender marker with a legitimate court order.”
Advocates of the LGBTQ+ community are worried about the long-term consequences of the policy change.
“Unfortunately, if we’re outed to the wrong person, that increases the chances of harassment, discrimination and even violence,” said Ash Hall, policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas. “Attorney General Ken Paxton has attempted to get data on trans people requesting gender marker changes before (2022). He just wasn’t successful at the time.”
The ACLU of Texas, Equality Texas and other organizations are still in the content gathering phase to determine how to proceed. Legal action isn’t be ruled out at this time.
Family law attorney Joseph Hoelscher believes it's possible Texas DPS's rejection of certified court orders could be unconstitutional.
"There is no specific statutory authority for DPS to ignore these orders. Courts have been making these changes, unchallenged, for years. DPS cites no authority for their change in policy nor any compelling interest in doing so," Hoelscher said. "This could violate the separation of powers and sets a dangerous precedent for DPS to ignore the courts based on the decisions of approximately 2,000 clerks who lack the training to make legal decisions when management can't even say conclusively that the courts are wrong."
A Texas DPS spokesperson provided an emailed statement in response to inquires about the policy change:
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.