AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- After the Texas Department of Public Safety began denying transgender Texans the option to change the gender on their driver's licenses, conservatives praised the move and hope more state agencies adopt a policy of not recognizing identity preferences -- while transgender rights attorneys warn that may be discriminatory and illegal.
"We think it's incredibly important that IDs in Texas are accurate instead of being based off of perceived gender identification," Megan Benton with the conservative advocacy group Texas Values said.
DPS' policy change is a reflection of the Texas GOP's official party platform, which opposes "all efforts to validate transgender identity."
"The official position of the Texas schools shall be that there are only two genders: biological male and biological female, which are immutable and cannot be changed. We support the total prohibition of so-called social transitioning," the Texas GOP's 2024 platform states.
Prior to DPS' switch, transgender Texans could obtain a medical evaluation and present a court order directing DPS to change the gender on their driver's license. The Texas Attorney General is now calling into question whether those orders are enforceable.
The Office of the Attorney General has recently raised concerns regarding the validity of court orders being issued which purport to order state agencies - including DPS - to change the sex of individuals in government records," DPS told Nexstar on Wednesday. "The lack of legislative authority and evidentiary standards for the Courts to issue these orders has resulted in the need for a comprehensive legal review by DPS and the OAG."
Nexstar contacted DPS and the Attorney General's Office for more information about what their concerns are, specifically, but has not yet received a response.
Transgender rights lawyers say DPS' new policy denies transgender Texans equal recognition by their state.
"When you don't have identity documents that match who you are, that means it's hard for you to get housing, it's hard for you to have a bank account, it's hard for you to get health care, it's hard for you to do all of those things that someone who is cisgender or who is not transgender does every day," Shelly Skeen with Lambda Legal said.
Skeen said the policy change may prompt legal action. State agencies are required to follow court orders -- and the Attorney General cannot simply direct agencies to flout the judiciary, she said.
"Judicial court orders are meant to be binding on state agencies, and so for the Attorney General or for the governor to unilaterally say you can disregard a court order... that would be a violation of the lane that the executive is supposed to be in," Skeen said.
Policy regulating gender changes is often murky and diverse across jurisdictions because the state legislature has not codified the matter. Conservatives hope lawmakers will codify it next session to prevent state agencies from recognizing transgender individuals' preferred identity.
"We look forward to working with the governor further on this issue and other members of the legislature to further protect the rights of women and children," Benton said. "I'm sure this will be something that is explored further by many members of the legislature."
