Republicans might be sneakily targeting trans voters with this move

For trans people, getting your gender marker corrected on your documents can have a lot of hurdles. In the past two months, two states have decided to make it even harder for trans people to get the gender on their driver’s license corrected. Both of those states are Republican led: Alabama and Texas.

Alabama had a law on the books that required trans people to have received bottom surgery before they could change the gender marker on their license. Many trans people choose not to have that gender affirming surgery, and a side effect of the surgery is sterilization. That law was barred from enforcement back in 2021. However, in September, the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision that had barred it, meaning that trans people in the states will now be required to undergo surgery before having their correct licenses.

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Texas previously required a court order from a judge to change the gender marker on a license unless it was a clerical error. However, in August, internal communications reveal that the Texas Department of Safety (DPS) stopped accepting court orders as a means of updating drivers’ licenses and refused to change them at all, instead making a list of anyone who requested a change (what will that list be used for? Nothing good, probably). In September, the head of the DPS started questioning whether they could revert previously made gender marker changes by treating them like clerical errors, thus making previously issued drivers’ licenses invalid.

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Perhaps it’s a coincidence that both of these situations arose at the same time. The courts often move at their own speed. But the Texas situation only required internal emails. Why is this happening now? It could well be because there is an election in just a few weeks.

Texas and Alabama both have voter ID laws, for which the most easy and accessible option has often been a driver’s license. In Texas, the first item listed as possible ID is a “Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)” and in Alabama it’s “Valid Driver’s License (not expired or has been expired less than 60 days).”

The rule changes in both Texas and Alabama call into question whether already issued licenses can be considered as valid. Earlier this year, Florida made a similar change so that trans people can no longer change the gender identity on their driver’s license at all. The question raised that that time was whether using a license that had been updated before could be seen as “misrepresenting” your identity and open you up to fraud charges.

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In all three states, this is going to dissuade trans voters from going to the polls. If they have been unable to update their licenses, they might have to out themselves to poll workers to vote. If they have updated their IDs before these rule changes went into effect, it’s unclear what would happen if the validity was questioned. Even if using those ID was declared to be acceptable for voting, the question will put people off.

These changes amount to voter suppression and voter intimidation on the part of the Republican administrations in Alabama, Texas, and Florida.

While other documentation can be obtained for voting, including a free voter ID in Alabama (which you can only get if you don’t have a valid driver’s license) and an election identification certificate in Texas (which you have to go to the office in person to obtain). If you are trans and voting in this election, please explore all ID options and consider bringing additional documentation. Also check out our complete guide to voting while trans.

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