ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A memo sent to Florida county tax collectors last week effectively bans people from changing their "gender" or "sex" on their driver's license. This is just one of the latest policy changes state leaders have made that directly impact transgender individuals.
Back in 2022, driver's license requirements were amended to allow Floridians to change the gender marker on their license. Now, the FLHSMV has rescinded that amendment.
The reason, according to the memo, is that the requirements in IR08-Gender requirements aren't "supported" by statutory authority. Under Florida statute, transportation authorities can only give out replacement licenses when they are stolen or lost, or if an acceptable change — such as name, address or restrictions — has occurred, the memo said.
The memo goes on to say that the term "gender" used in Florida statutes doesn't mean a "person's internal sense of his or her gender role or identification" but "historically and commonly" is "understood" as an interchangeable word with "sex."
The department further stated that "sex" is "determined by innate and immutable biological and genetic characteristics."
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Additionally, the agency went on to say this change needed to be made because a person's ID is "critical" in "correctly" identifying someone. By allowing a person to change the gender marker on their license based on their current identity, the memo states that action "undermines the purpose" of an ID and can "frustrate the state's ability to enforce its laws."
When 10 Tampa Bay requested the memo, the FLHSMV communication director also sent a statement that in part says when the gender requirements allowed for individuals to change their gender marker, it "violated" the law and undermined the "security and reliability" of Florida-issued licenses and IDs.
The department said the change "pertains solely to replacement license requests. No changes have been made to the process of establishing gender on a newly issued Florida credential."
The FLHSMV executive director, Dave Kerner, was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2023. Since then, the department said Kerner has had senior leaders go over the existing policies, procedures and technical guidance and advisories to make sure they are "consistent with both statutory law and the Department's inherent authority."
DeSantis has thrown support behind and signed laws that have undermined the transgender community in Florida. This includes controversial bathroom laws in schools, preferred pronoun restrictions, an effective ban on LGBTQ+ discussions in classrooms, prohibiting transgender girls from playing girls sports and restrictive healthcare requirements.
A law DeSantis signed that banned gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender youth is currently being challenged in court. The federal judge hearing the case noted in December that DeSantis repeatedly spread false information about doctors mutilating children's genitals even though there haven't been any documented cases.
In light of the changes DeSantis has championed, Equality Florida, the largest civil rights organization dedicated to Florida's LGBTQ+ community, issued a travel advisory in March 2023, claiming risks posed to health, safety and freedom to those living in or traveling to the Sunshine State.