Court Ordered Gender Changes Ignored In TX; Drivers License Changes Blocked In MO, MT

Court Ordered Gender Changes Ignored In TX; Drivers License Changes Blocked In MO, MT
Anti-trans regulations blocking drivers license changes are spreading in Republican states, with a Texas directive even claiming it will ignore court orders.

ERIN REED
AUG 22, 2024

On Tuesday, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced in an internal email that it will no longer accept amended birth certificates or court orders to change gender markers on a person’s driver’s license. The email also states that name changes accompanying gender marker changes will not be accepted. Meanwhile, reports from Montana indicate similar bans on driver’s license changes are occurring there, and the state has similarly ignored court orders allowing for gender marker changes. In Missouri, a new and unannounced internal policy now requires transgender individuals to undergo gender reassignment surgery or obtain a court order to change their gender marker. These states join Florida, Tennessee, and Kansas, which have banned gender marker changes entirely, imposing significant challenges on transgender people in their daily lives.

The Texas policy was announced in an email entitled “Court Order Notice to Employees” by Sheri Gipson, Chief of the Drivers License Division at the Texas Department of Public Safety. The email states that “effective immediately, the department will not accept court orders or amended birth certificates that change the sex when it differs from the documentation already on file.” It also states that if somebody presents a court order that contains both a name and a sex change, a common type of court order for a transgender person to seek out, the division will not accept the order and issue no correction.

Perhaps most troublingly, a database will be made to track those who attempt to make these changes. Anyone who attempts to change their drivers license gender marker will have the information sent to DLCourtorders@dps.texas.gov, noting that the email address is for “internal reporting only” and “should not be shared with customers.”

See the email here:


Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office released a statement about the change, indicating his intention to continue to ignore court orders:

“The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has recently raised concerns regarding the validity of court orders being issued which purport to order state agencies-including DPS-to change the sex of individuals in government records, including driver licenses and birth certificates. Neither DPS nor other government agencies 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. 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.”

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