By Erin Reed | WASHINGTON – In a letter released Friday, every member of Florida’s Democratic congressional delegation urged the Biden administration to use his powers to block Florida’s driver’s license gender marker ban for transgender individuals using the federal Real ID act.
This notable step marks the first time an entire state’s Democratic congressional delegation has requested the administration intervene to prevent discrimination within the state against transgender individuals.
While the Biden administration has taken positive steps in addressing transgender issues, it has faced criticism for complacency and a lack of action as over 1,000 bills targeting the transgender community have been filed since he took office. Using the Real ID Act to block Florida’s anti-trans driver’s license policy would be a significant move by the administration in support of transgender people.
The letter is in response to two measures in Florida aimed at prohibiting the alteration of gender markers on driver’s licenses and criminalizing transgender individuals. Earlier this week, the state announced it would cease allowing changes to driver’s license gender markers, asserting that any transgender person “misrepresenting” their gender on their license could be guilty of criminal fraud, facing potential license suspension or revocation.
Concurrently, a bill progressing through the Florida Legislature seeks to ban driver’s license gender marker changes and would mandate health insurance coverage for conversion therapy.
The changes prompted immediate speculation that the federal Real ID Act, enacted by Republicans in 2005, might protect transgender individuals in states attempting to ban driver’s license changes. This is because the federal requirements for state IDs include listing “gender.”
The Biden administration could employ various methods to ensure compliance with the Real ID Act, mandating that states allow transgender people to list their gender on their driver’s licenses. These methods could include initiating a rulemaking process or declaring Florida out of compliance.
Those speculations apparently turned out to have serious merit, at least to members of Congress.
On Friday, Rep. Maxwell Frost released a letter signed onto by every member of the Florida Democratic congressional delegation that stated, “If the above-described revisions are allowed to stand in Florida, and similar provisions are allowed to stand in other states, they will undoubtedly continue to spread, creating more confusion and inconsistency while severely hampering Americans’ ability to travel, including LGBTQ+ American’s ability to leave states that are hostile to their existence.”
The signatories then request that the United States federal government mandate the state to come into compliance and use every other power at its disposal to prevent discrimination against transgender individuals on driver’s licenses.
See the letter here:
Should Biden take this step, the action could have significant consequences for any state that bans transgender individuals from updating their driver’s licenses. The Real ID Act requires states to comply for IDs to be used for boarding airplanes. Any state out of compliance could severely hamper its citizens’ travel options.
It represents one of many steps the administration can take to protect transgender individuals in states deemed unsafe; other states considering or implementing driver’s license bans include Iowa and Kansas. Additionally, more bills in several states aim to end all legal recognition for transgender individuals; these measures would likely also prohibit driver’s license changes.
The Biden administration has an important tool that could be utilized to counteract anti-trans Republican legislatures across the country. With this letter from every member of the Florida Democratic congressional delegation, it is likely to face considerable pressure to employ this tool to protect transgender Floridians who have abruptly found themselves legally targeted by the state.
Until action is taken, trans Floridians must grapple with allegations of breaking the law simply for possessing a driver’s license that reflects their gender identity within the state.
