For Missourians, changing their gender on state-issued identification has become more challenging. The Missouri Department of Revenue verified the rule change last week, citing an incident at an Ellisville gym involving a transgender lady utilizing the women’s locker area.
According to the agency, those wishing to change the gender shown on their driver’s license now need to present a court decree stating their gender designation or medical proof that they have had gender reassignment surgery.
Spokesman for the Missouri Department of Revenue Anne Marie Moy gave the following information:
“Customers are required to provide either medical documentation that they have undergone gender reassignment surgery, or a court order declaring gender designation to obtain a driver license or nondriver ID card denoting gender other than their biological gender assigned at birth.”
LGBTQ activists refer to this shift as a step in the wrong direction. The move, according to Robert Fischer of PROMO Missouri, an LGBTQ+ public policy and advocacy group, unfairly punishes Missourians who identify as transgender or nonbinary.
“There are Missourians who cannot live a full life because their IDs are not matching who they are,” Fischer stated.
Compared to surgery or a court order, Fischer believed that the previous requirements for changing your gender on state-issued identification, which included a note from a medical professional—such as a doctor, psychologist, or therapist—were more suitable and affordable.
Fischer worries that LGBTQ Missourians will be harmed by the move.
“Not having the correct ID immediately makes them a target for bullying, harassment, and denial of services,” Fischer stated. “It’s something that no Missourian should have to go through.”
The person who first got in touch with the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Revenue after the incident at Lifetime Fitness in Ellisville back on August 2 was state representative Justin Sparks (R-Wildwood).
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Members of the club who represent Sparks’ constituents called him, he said, alleging that a transgender woman was acting improperly in the women’s locker area. According to Sparks, the argument is not about singled out any one or group.
Sparks stated that, “I don’t want anybody to feel targeted. I don’t want anybody to feel hated on. I understand people feel a certain way. But you have to draw the line somewhere. And I draw the line at bathrooms.”
Nevertheless, Sparks contends that the agency is inappropriately altering policies behind closed doors, even with the modification to the ID regulations.
