New Texas rules on changes to IDs, birth certificates put people in danger, critics say

Two recent policy changes in Texas threaten to endanger transgender people and open the door to fraud and invasion of privacy, critics say.

The state’s Department of Public Safety has banned changes to a person’s sex on driver’s licenses except to correct clerical errors. Previously, a person could make the change on their ID or driver’s license with a court order or an amended birth certificate.

More recently, the Texas Department of State Health Services made an unannounced policy change for birth certificates, first reported by KXAN. The agency’s website previously said it would accept a certified court order to change a person’s sex marker on their birth certificate. This document is no longer on the agency’s website as an acceptable document.

The Department of Public Safety told the Star-Telegram in an email that the issue needs a “comprehensive legal review.”

“The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) 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, including driver licenses and birth certificates,” the statement said.

“Neither DPS nor other government agencies are parties to the proceedings that result in the issuance of these court orders, and 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.”

Twan McGary says these policies present another barrier for transgender Texans who want to live their authentic lives.

McGary is the program manager for the Dallas branch of The Normal Anomaly Initiative, an organization that aims to help Black and queer plus people overcome barriers and problematic narratives.

“For those who haven’t had their gender markers changed, this is a threat to our safety,” said McGary, who is a transgender man. “Because presenting your ID which is not aligned with what you’re presenting to society can lead to harassment, which is unsafe, which could lead to discrimination, which could possibly lead to violence for people who just hate trans people.”

In 2023, 32 transgender people in the U.S. were killed by guns or interpersonal violence, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Of the 32 people murdered, 84 percent were people of color and 50 percent were Black transgender women. The attackers in about a third of cases where the killers were identified were romantic or sexual partners, friends or family members.

These new policies create a problem where documents such as a Social Security card, driver’s licenses or birth certificate will not match, critics say.

“What it does is it sets up a question about, are there other people that are not transgender or not intersex, that are also trying to do something,” said Derek Mergele-Rust, founding partner at DebnamRust, a Dallas family law firm. “That opens up the door for potential fraud.”

Mergele-Rust says he has never seen a government agency refusing to follow court orders. He says it sets a dangerous precedent for law enforcement to openly defy court orders.

The Department of Public Safety advised its employees to forward copies of sex change requests to a special email address with the subject line “Sex Change Court Order,” according to KUT.

Mergele-Rust says it is troublesome that the government is collecting names of a particular group of people. It appears from the outside that Attorney General Ken Paxton is attempting to get around previous court orders and collect information in any way he can, Mergele-Rust said.

“If the attorney general can collect information without a person’s consent for this purpose, what other purposes or what other groups of people can the attorney general decide that he wants to collect information about?” Mergele-Rust said. “And are we as Texans comfortable with the government being able to collect information about us without our permission or without telling us they’re doing it?”

In 2022, Paxton asked the Department of Public Safety to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender on their Texas driver’s license and other department records during the past two years, according to the Washington Post. DPS officials determined the data requested neither existed nor could be accurately produced.

In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that bans transgender girls from participating in female sports in public schools. Last year, Texas banned gender-affirming health care for transgender children.

Mergele-Rust says if there are any transgender people people with questions, they should reach out to an attorney that works in gender markers and name changes.

McGary says the new policies affect people’s mental and physical health. He has a wife and children. If something happens to him, and his documents are not matching, his family could face difficulties.

“We have families, families that care about us deeply,” McGary said. “You know, it’s not just affecting trans people, but the people that love us and our allies in the community are all affected.”