Maxwell Frost decries Florida transgender license policy as ‘hateful attack’

Florida Democrats oppose a new state policy barring transgender residents from changing the gender on their driver’s license, calling the sudden change an attack on the community and calling for federal intervention. .

In a Jan. 26 memo, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a memo reminding county tax collectors who issue driver’s licenses in the state that the gender mark on newly issued Florida driver’s licenses is not based on gender identity. It informed that it should reflect the gender assigned at birth. .

“Allowing individuals to change their licenses to reflect an internalized sense of sexual role or identity that is neither immutable nor objectively verifiable undermines the purpose of identification documents and is an effective way for states to enforce their laws. “It could hinder their ability to do so,” the deputy chief executive said. Director Robert Kinnock wrote in his notes:

“Additionally, misrepresenting one’s gender (understood as gender) on a driver’s license constitutes fraud, and violators are subject to criminal and civil penalties, including revocation, suspension, or revocation of their driver’s license.” Mr Kinnock wrote.

The policy replaces a 2011 mandate that transgender people in Florida could change the gender on their driver’s license with a letter from their doctor, making transgender Floridians who have already had their licenses amended facing fraud charges. It is not specified whether there is a possibility of being questioned.

Florida Democrats, led by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), said in a letter Friday to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that the rules under the Real ID Act would override the state’s policy. A draft was requested from the Ministry. .

“Forcing Floridians to carry driver’s licenses that may not correspond to their gender serves the stated purpose of the REAL ID Act, which is to ‘enhance the consistency and security of identification documents.’ It’s the complete opposite.” says in the lettersigned by all eight Florida Democrats in the House.

“DHS regulations include, but are not limited to, requiring gender identifiers on compliant state identification documents to match gender on federal identification documents,” the Democrats wrote in the letter. Not,” he wrote. “If there are other means to combat this discrimination, we encourage the department to pursue them as well.”

Under current federal policy, individuals can choose their own gender marker on a U.S. passport, including unspecified gender identity, denoted by an “X.” The State Department says the gender you choose does not have to match the gender on supporting documentation, such as your birth certificate or state ID.

In 2021, the department rescinded a policy that required transgender people to submit medical documentation to change the gender marker on their U.S. passports.

If the policy changes put forth by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles are left in place and other states adopt similar restrictions, “there is no doubt that infections will continue to spread, create further confusion and inconsistency, and threaten Americans’ ability to travel.” “This includes the ability of LGBTQ+ Americans to leave states hostile to their existence,” Democrats wrote in a letter to Mayorkas on Friday.

“This is nothing less than a hateful attack on the trans community aimed at eradicating trans,” Frost added in Friday’s article. Post to Xformerly Twitter.

Molly Best, the department’s communications director, told The Hill on Friday that the new policy “should not be confusing to anyone.”

“You are either male or female and your driver’s license must state your exact biological sex,” she said.

A bill currently moving through Florida’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives would similarly require transgender people to list their assigned sex at birth on their driver’s license, rather than their gender identity.

The bill, HB 1639, would specifically remove the word “gender” from the list of required identifiers displayed on Florida driver’s licenses and define a person as male or female based on a person’s “sex chromosomes, sex hormones.” The idea is to replace it with “gender”. , and the internal and external genitalia present at birth. ”

LGBTQ advocates fear the bill could invalidate driver’s licenses for transgender and gender nonconforming people in the state.