(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
According to a letter submitted by an anonymous source Jan. 29, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has rescinded the policy that allowed transgender individuals to update the gender marker on their driver’s licenses.
The letter, written by Deputy Executive Director Dave Kerner, states that gender will be interpreted as “biological sex.” Furthermore, the letter declares that any person “misrepresenting” their gender marker would be guilty of fraud, facing civil and criminal penalties and revocation of licensure.
The letter, apparently sent out on Jan. 26, asserts that “gender” is synonymous with “biological sex,” and argues that gender identity is “neither immutable nor objectively verifiable.” It suggests that permitting trans individuals to update their gender markers on their driver’s licenses would “prevent the state from enforcing its laws.” These laws include bans on trans individuals using the bathroom of their gender identity and laws targeting adult medical care.
The move marks a significant escalation and seems to have been initiated unilaterally by the department. This action is in line with other unilateral measures taken by the executive branch in Florida and other states. These include the Florida Board of Medicine’s ban on trans care, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s directive through the Board of Education to ban trans bathroom usage in schools, and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s efforts to target adult trans care via the rule-making process. However, none of these examples previously involved driver’s licenses. If upheld, Florida would become the first state to prohibit driver’s license changes under criminal penalty for trans individuals.
The ramifications of this rule could be far-reaching. All trans individuals in the state with Florida driver’s licenses not aligning with their “biological sex” might immediately be in possession of a fraudulent license. The state could seek to suspend or revoke the licenses of trans individuals under this policy. Moreover, during traffic stops involving trans individuals, they could face legal challenges with police officers if the officers believe the driver’s license “misrepresents” their “biological sex.”
State Rep. Anna Eskamani appeared to confirm that computer systems were no longer accepting gender changes at FLHSMV offices.
This development coincides with the consideration of two bills in Florida that aim to prohibit driver’s license changes through the legislative process: House Bills 1233 and 1639. These bills could require all Floridians to sign “biological sex affidavits” when renewing or updating their driver’s licenses. The policy could be a strategy to deter trans Floridians, aware of the bills, from quickly updating the gender marker on their driver’s licenses before their passage. Notably, Florida driver’s licenses typically have long expiration periods, often lasting eight years post-issuance.
Under this policy, trans individuals in Florida could face considerable challenges in daily life. Many have already left the state, and of those remaining, 80 percent reportedly wish to leave. This policy could instantly criminalize trans individuals who drive in the state with updated gender markers. It would compel trans people to disclose their identity in any situation requiring a driver’s license. Additionally, it would provide Florida a means to enforce its bathroom laws, which criminalize trans individuals for using bathrooms that align with their gender identity in many public spaces.
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, issued the following statement:
“The DeSantis administration’s obsession with scapegoating transgender Floridians has escalated into an outrageous attack that further erodes freedom and liberty in our state. This cruel policy threatens transgender Floridians with civil and criminal penalties and blocks them from obtaining the critical government-issued identification necessary to continue their daily lives. Transgender people have always existed in every culture on every continent and always will. In Florida, tens of thousands of people have legally updated their gender marker on their driver’s license or ID. They carefully followed the rules to ensure their identification accurately reflects who they are, and they trusted this process. Now, an abrupt policy reversal has thrown their lives into chaos. The cruelty of this kind of government overreach and intrusion should alarm every Floridian. These reckless and hateful policies are intended to make the transgender community feel unsafe and unwelcome in Florida and to bully them out of public life entirely.
We know this is a devastating development, and we are working with our coalition partners, our grassroots volunteers, and our legal groups to figure out what options are available to fight back.”
The Human Rights Campaign reacted to this latest attack on the rights of trans Floridians in an emailed statement by HRC President Kelley Robinson:
“For years, transgender people have warned of radical anti-LGBTQ+ forces’ true aim: to abuse governmental power to take away our freedoms and drive trans people out of public society,” said Robinson. “From AG Paxton hunting for private medical information of transgender children, to Florida’s assault on identification documents, to Midwest lawmakers saying the quiet part out loud, these right wing extremists are no longer hiding the ball. They want to humiliate, harass, and use policy to eliminate transgender people from public life. But you cannot legislate away the community. Transgender people are powerful. They are our friends, neighbors, and family members. And we will stand arm-in-arm with them to fight back against this sinister agenda.”
Florida currently occupies the most dangerous level on the Transgender Legislative Risk Assessment Map, “Do Not Travel.” The state’s oppressive laws have drawn similar travel advisories from HRC and Equality Florida. Should this policy be enforced, the state’s trans population will find it even harder to move freely and could come into conflict with law enforcement and criminal penalties just for having documents that match their gender identity. The policy appears to be the latest attempt at putting trans “eradication,” championed at CPAC, into action within the borders of Florida.
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