According to an internal Texas Department of Public Safety email, a copy of which was obtained by the Dallas Voice through a local attorney, the DPS has decided – unilaterally and without public notice – to stop changing the gender marker on Texas driver’s licenses and state identification cards.
The email also states that the DPS will create a database of all people who request a change of gender on their driver’s license or national identity card.
The policy change follows an earlier request from the Texas Attorney General that DPS provide his office with records of people whose gender information on driver’s licenses or identification cards had been corrected. Because DPS could not distinguish at the time between changes made pursuant to a court order and those made to correct clerical errors, the agency was unable to provide Paxton with the information he requested.
This new policy appears to be implemented to create the database requested by Paxton.
The email, which was verified by a lawyer, was dated August 20 and stated: “Effective immediately, the Department will not accept any court orders or amended birth certificates that change the gender if it differs from the documentation already on file.”
The email, signed by Sheri Gipson of the Driver License Division, states: “The validity of such documents is currently being reviewed by the Director’s office to ensure compliance with all state and federal guidelines. For current driver’s license/ID card holders, the gender established at the time of the original application and listed on the driver’s record will not be changed unless there is a clerical error. The gender will be the same as the gender listed on the primary document submitted at the time of the original application and already on file.”
Gipson stressed in the email that the new policy does not mean that DPS will refuse to issue or renew a Texas driver’s license, but only that “issuance may continue with documentation on file” and it will be “up to the customer” to accept a driver’s license or identification card that does not match their gender identity and physical appearance.
Gipson wrote, “If a first-time applicant presents conflicting documentation, such as a birth certificate with a court order requiring a sex change, the sex indicated on the original birth certificate will take precedence for gender registration. If a single court order includes both a name change and a sex change, we cannot accept the order. The application will be processed without modification and with the information contained in the file.”
Gipson then instructs staff to scan any “court order gender reassignment documents that cannot be processed” into the file and email the applicant’s name and driver’s license or identification number to “[email protected]” with “Court Order Gender Reassignment” in the subject line.
He added that changes due to typos do not need to be reported and that the DLCourtorders email address is “for internal reporting purposes only and must not be shared with clients.”
Gipson apologized to employees “for the short notice,” adding that DPS officials “will work on a resolution as quickly as possible.” She said that “customer escalations are handled through the chain of command.”
— Tammy Nash
