Finally, Florida has identified the real problematic drivers on our state’s congested highways.
Transgender people.
Yes, and you thought all that aggressive lane-switching you see on I-95 was just due to carelessness.
Florida’s highway safety department takes aim at transgender drivers with changed gender markers on their licenses
Apparently, it’s “driving while trans” that requires some dramatic attention to the state department devoted to highway safety.
So, Republican state lawmakers and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) are teaming up to invalidate the Driver Licenses of transgender people.
The FLHSMV is rewriting the provision in the current Driver Licence Operations Manual that allows trans people to change the gender information on their license to comport with the way they live their lives.
The agency plan, echoed by newly filed legislation from Republican state lawmakers, mandates that licenses are only valid for drivers who use their sex at birth on their cards.
Any trans person requesting a change of their gender marker would now be considered committing a criminal act of “misrepresenting” information on the state license.
This would subject trans drivers to both criminal and civil fraud penalties, as well as cancellation, suspension or revocation of their driver licenses.
Drivers would also be required to file sworn affidavits to the state attesting the sex marker on their driver license is the same as their sex at birth, one of the proposed bills say.
“If the department determines that the applicant made a false attestation, the department must revoke his or her driver license or identification card,” the bill says.
If you think this is a shamefully discriminatory action against LGBTQ Floridians, you might want to keep that to yourself. That’s because state lawmakers are also promoting a bill that allows them to collect monetary damages for defamation against anyone who calls them “homophobic.”
The highway safety agency justified the sudden need to invalidate driver licenses of trans people in a directive sent out last week to the county offices that issue driver licenses.
“Permitting an individual to alter his or her license to reflect an internal sense of gender role or identity, which is neigher immutable nor objectively verifiable, undermines the purpose of an identification record and can frustrate the state’s ability to enforce its laws,” the agency memo says.
Enforce what laws, you ask? Behold the smoking debris of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mean, small presidential campaign.
In July, DeSantis signed into law something called the Safety in Private Spaces Act. It made it a crime for trans people to use government-owned public restrooms that align with their gender.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
I think you see where this is heading: The bathroom police.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the officer could say, stopping a person entering a women’s bathroom in a public building. “But I’m going to need to see your Florida Driver License.”
“My driver license to use the bathroom? There must be some mistake.”
“No mistake, ma’am. This is Florida.”
“I don’t see how my driver license has anything to do walking into a public restroom.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Hmm. Says here you’re female.”
“Yes, can I go now? I really have to go.”
“Not so fast, ma’am. My special training as a Florida Transgender Interdiction Specialist gives me probable cause to suspect you may have committed a crime against the people of Florida.”
“A crime? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“This is no joke, ma’am. Have you ever applied for a state driver license with a changed gender marker?”
“This is ridiculous!”
“When was your last menstrual period?”
“We can talk more when I’m finished, but right now I need to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere. I need you to step aside for secondary screening, ma’am. Hands against the wall.
“What’s going on here?”
“I’m putting on gloves for the examination.”
Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, which is part of the Gannett Newspapers chain.
