News/Commentary

Florida leads the way once again with big change on transgender driver licenses

January 31, 2024 | | Print Article

The Republican-led state of Florida has put a stop to transgender people changing the gender on their driver’s licenses to reflect the gender they have chosen to identify as.

Robert Kynoch, deputy executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, sent a memo outlining the policy change to county tax collectors, who process driver’s licenses and state identification cards, WMFE reported.

According to the memo, allowing people to change the gender marker on licenses and ID cards is not consistent with state law because the provision “does not refer to a person’s internal sense of his or her gender role or identification, but has historically and commonly been understood as a synonym for ‘sex,’ which is determined by innate and immutable biological and genetic characteristics.”

“A driver’s license is an identification document and, as such, serves a critical role in assisting public and private entities in correctly establishing the identity of a person presenting the license,” Kynoch wrote. “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.”

More from WMFE:

The state agency in 2018 adopted a policy allowing people to alter the genetic markers on licenses by using signed statements from physicians or court orders documenting gender changes. The policy, in part, required workers to treat people seeking such changes “respectfully.” In 2021, the process was expanded to allow advanced practice registered nurses to attest to the gender changes.

Kynoch’s memo noted the agency rescinded the policy, saying its provisions “are not supported by statutory authority.”

 

Florida licenses can now only be replaced when they are lost or stolen or when a licensee changes their name, address, or restrictions.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D) took to social media to share the memo while crying foul over the common sense policy change.

“This is another gross example of how every state agency has been weaponized to attack trans people. Instead of addressing the property insurance crisis, this is what our state is doing. Shameful,” tweeted the former Planned Parenthood executive, who has a sister on the steering committee of the left-wing LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida.

Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, embraced the victimhood mentality being pushed by the progressive lawmaker.

“In Florida, tens of thousands of people have legally updated their gender marker on their driver’s license or ID,” Smith said in a statement. “They carefully followed the rules to ensure their identification accurately reflects who they are, and they trusted this process. Now, an abrupt policy reversal has thrown their lives into chaos.”

Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida remains unafraid to challenge today’s norm when it comes to social justice gains. Last year, the state passed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits classroom instruction on “sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade — Florida has since expanded the law through all grades, other than health or reproductive courses.

The media has dishonestly portrayed the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, while Democrats fought hard in a losing effort to oppose the bill.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:

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