Texas might force trans folks to reverse gender changes they’ve already made on their IDs

Transgender Texans who have had the gender markers changed on their IDs may now be at risk of having that change reversed.

In a recent letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw asked whether government agencies could “correct” people’s gender markers that had been changed due to what McCraw referred to as their “perceived gender identity.” He explicitly asked if it was okay to make these “corrections” even when the change was done with a court order.

Related:

Donald Trump says schools are now almost exclusively teaching kids how to be transgender

He claims he saw “programs” that showed that schools aren’t teaching math or reading anymore, they’re just teaching “transgender.”

In August, DPS revoked trans folks’ abilities to change the gender markers on their IDs, even when they have a court order or amended birth certificate. A few weeks later, the state eliminated the ability for transgender people to alter the sex marker on their birth certificates.

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McCraw’s letter seeking to take the restrictions even further refers to sex as “a binary and fixed biological fact,” negating the existence of intersex folks. He also adds that he does not agree there is a difference between sex and gender, saying “medical or surgical treatment… cannot change chromosomal biology.”

The practice of allowing trans people to change their gender markers, he wrote, referring to news reports he read, “seems to be part of a years-long and state-wide effort to alter government records to reflect gender identity” that involves “coaching” trans folks to say they need “corrections” on their IDs rather than “changes.”

McCraw wrote that DPS may have changed people’s gender markers based on illegal court orders and as such, seeks permission from Paxton to “correct” this “inaccurate sex information.”

Trans journalist Erin Reed called the threat a “significant escalation in policies targeting transgender adults.”

“These individuals could face a harsh reality if the DPS begins systematically revoking their licenses and reissuing old ones with a different gender marker, and potentially, their former names,” Reed warned.

Paxton’s recent anti-trans crusade is part of his sweeping policy to oppose gender-affirming care for trans people, particularly trans minors, who have reported mental and emotional distress over laws targeting their educational and healthcare rights.

“Paxton is the bull in the china shop — willing to trample anything in his path, including undermining the power of Texas courts, in his reckless campaign to make life difficult for trans people,” Brad Pritchett, the executive director of Equality Texas, told HuffPost.

Pritchett also voiced fury over McCraw’s letter.

“DPS has already changed their policy on gender marker updates, and only now are they asking if it is legal? The request from DPS for a nonbinding legal opinion about the status of court orders to update gender markers underscores the chaos that has resulted from Paxton’s haphazard attack on the trans community in Texas.”

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