by Shocking report reveals that the state is tracking information about transgender residents who have tried to change their gender on documents, including driver’s licenses. This became known shortly after Republican State Representative Tom Oliverson introduced a bill that could make it illegal for individuals to incorrectly state their gender at birth, with potential penalties including up to two years in prison.
Earlier this month, The Texas Newsroom obtained internal documents revealing that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) tracked every instance when a driver requested a gender change on their license. According to these records, after Texas announced last year that it would no longer allow residents to change their gender in their documents except to correct errors, agency employees recorded every change request.
The collected information is sent to an internal email address signed as “Court Order for Gender Change.” For many years, transgender individuals were able to update their state IDs after receiving a court order. However, last year LGBTQ activists gained access to this email address and began to overload it with subscriptions to gay blogs. Despite protests from many members of the public, the department continues to collect data from those who request to change their designated gender, reports KUT.
Internal Confusion and Refusals
Local media report that in some cases DPS employees approved requests for name changes on licenses but denied gender designation changes. In other cases, employees refused both the name and gender changes, even when individuals provided federal documents or IDs from other states that matched their gender identity. Some state employees even documented requests from residents who were simply inquiring about the process of changing their ID.
In one instance, a driver attempted to change the gender on their license at a local driver’s license office but was told they would need to provide more documents. They sent a copy of their passport to the Department of Public Safety by email. This message was then forwarded to an internal address used to track gender change requests.
Legislative Backlash
Earlier this month, Republican State Representative Tom Oliverson introduced a bill that includes harsh penalties for those who “knowingly make false or misleading statements verbally or in writing,” providing inaccurate gender identification at birth to an employer or state agency. The proposed law could lead to charges of state crime for misidentifying one’s gender at birth, punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of $10,000, reports. However, without co-authors, this law is unlikely to be passed soon.
