Texas Prevents Transgender Individuals from Altering Their Gender on State ID’s

Source: Mariia Morozova / Getty

A new policy was initiated Thursday preventing transgender people in Texas from changing their gender on government issued IDs and documents according to officials.

The Department of public safety confirmed Thursday in a email that they are no longer accepting court orders to change gender markers according to the departments spokesperson.

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In the statement, they confirm that they Attorney General’s Office stated they have concerns for Texas agencies to change the sex of individuals in government records, including the Texas DPS.

DPS stated that neither it nor any other state government agency “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,” which is the Office of the Attorney General.

“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,” it stated.

So as of right now, gender on all driver’s license and state identification cards will “reflect the sex listed on the primary document presented upon original application that is already on file,” according to an internal email obtained by NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin.