"They want to humiliate, harass, and use policy to eliminate transgender people from public life.”
By Daniel Villarreal Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Florida has threatened to punish any transgender person who tries to change the gender listed on their state-issued driver’s licenses. Such individuals would be charged with trying to make a false ID and face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The threat appeared in a January 26 letter signed by Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FHSMV) deputy executive director Robert Kynoch and addressed to state county tax collector’s offices.

Kynoch’s letter said that the FHSMV would rescind its previous policy that allowed individuals to correct their licenses’ gender markers after transitioning. The previous policy didn’t require individuals to show any proof of having undergone gender-affirming surgeries.

“The term ‘gender’… does not refer to a person’s internal sense of his or her gender role of identification, but has historically and commonly been understood as a synonym for ‘sex,’ which is determined by innate and immutable biological and genetic characteristics,” his letter stated. It said that allowing people to alter their licenses based on gender identity “undermines the purpose of an identification record and can frustrate the state’s ability to enforce its laws.”