Florida barring transgender residents from changing gender on driver's license

Florida transgender residents will no longer be allowed to change the listed gender on their driver’s licenses or state ID, according to a memo from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

In the memo, addressed to county tax collectors, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Deputy Executive Director Robert Kynoch states that "misrepresenting one’s gender, understood as sex, on a driver's license constitutes fraud" and those with licenses that represent their gender identity could be subjected to "criminal and civil penalties, including cancellation, suspension, or revocation of his or her driver license."

Kynoch wrote in the memo that gender is synonymous with sex. Major national medical organizations, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, define gender and sex differently.

Sex is defined as a "multidimensional biological construct" of sex traits, according to the NIH, which defines gender as the "social and cultural expectations about status, characteristics, and behavior as they are associated with certain sex traits."

Florida residents were previously allowed to submit a court order for a name change or a letter from a physician on gender transition treatment to get their gender marker changed, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Civil liberty organizations and LGBTQ groups say officials are using policy "to eliminate transgender people from public life." These groups criticized what they called a lack of public input on the decision.

"You cannot legislate away the community," said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. "Transgender people are powerful. They are our friends, neighbors, and family members. And we will stand arm-in-arm with them to fight back against this sinister agenda.”

At least 22 states and Washington, D.C., allow residents to change their gender markers and also include a gender-neutral option, according to LGBTQ legislation tracker Movement Advancement Project, or MAP. At least 16 states and Washington, D.C., allow residents to do so with their birth certificate as well.

Many other states allow changes to be made to driver's licenses, with some requiring provider certification. The Department of State also allows U.S. passport applicants to choose their gender and are not required to submit medical documentation.

Only 10 states limit the ability to change the gender markers on driver's licenses, according to MAP.

In a statement to ABC News, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said, "you do not get to play identity politics with your driver license."

The change to the department's practices comes amid a fresh slate of bills introduced in the Florida Legislature that would impact the LGBTQ community.

This includes SB 1780, introduced by state Sen. Jason Brodeur, which would make allegations of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and racism constitute as "defamation," with damages of up to $35,000 to those who were said to be discriminatory.

Another bill, HB 599, introduced by state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, states that an employee may not provide an employer with their personal title or pronoun if they do not correspond with their sex traits, and the employer and fellow employees are not required to refer to the person's preferred title or pronouns.

However, an exception is made for people who are intersex or have a disorder in sex development.

Republican state Rep. Dean Black submitted HB 1233, which would require residents to sign an affidavit that certifies that the sex on their applications for driver's licenses and identification cards matches what is stated on their original birth certificate.

Critics say these bills will harm the small transgender population in the state.

"Transgender people have always existed and will always exist, and they will keep fighting for equality, regardless of any actions taken by this mean-spirited administration," read a joint statement from Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.