Transgender individuals will no longer be able to change their gender on their driver’s licenses according to a new policy change in Florida from the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The department announced the change in a memo on Tuesday sent out to county tax collectors.
Prior to the policy, Floridians were able to change the gender listed on their driver’s license if they provided a certified letter from a physician stating they are undergoing treatment to transition genders.
Department spokesperson Molly Best told the Tampa Bay Times in an email that policy changes are in line with the state’s statutes outlined by department Director David Kern who was appointed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis last year.
“Expanding the Department’s authority to issue replacement licenses dependent on one’s internal sense of gender or sex identification is violative of the law and does not serve to enhance the security and reliability of Florida issued licenses and identification cards,” Best wrote. “The security, reliability, and accuracy of government issued credentials is paramount.”
Deputy Executive Director Robert Kynoch wrote in the memo that the previous policy was not in line with statutes.
Kynoch said the department “can issue a replacement license only when a license or permit is lost or stolen, or when there is a subsequent change in the licensee’s name, address, or restrictions.”
The memo also provides a definition for gender that states it is not about gender identity, but “commonly been understood” as a synonym for sex.
“Permitting an individual to alter his or her license to reflect an internal sense of gender role or identity, which is neither immutable nor objectively verifiable, undermines the purpose of an identification record and can frustrate the state’s ability to enforce its laws,” Kynoch wrote in the memo.
However, Democrats and transgender rights activists in the state expressed disapproval of the policy change.
Florida Democratic Party chairperson Nikki Fried saying in a statement it was “disgusting and can’t be allowed to stand” and accused DeSantis of weaponizing state agencies “allowing right-wing extremists to get the wildly unpopular policies they want without having to go on the record as voting for them.”
