JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new rule in Florida makes it so you can no longer change your gender on your driver's license. The state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles sent a memo to county tax collectors outlining this change.
The memo defines the word “gender,” stating it’s commonly “understood as a synonym for ‘sex.’” The department says having a gender that does not match your biological sex on a driver’s license constitutes fraud and you can be subject to criminal and civil penalties, including your license being revoked.
“It feels like an absolutely targeted attack,” said Cindy Nobles, president of PFLAG in Jacksonville, which works with youth and advocates for the rights of people in the LGBTQ+ community. “I think that they’ll take this as far as to criminalize peoples’ existence.”
First Coast News asked a FLHSMV spokesperson why they’re making this change. In a statement they said, “In Florida, you do not get to play identity politics with your driver license." They declined to do an interview.
"[It’s] an arbitrary decision made by a very prejudicial state legislature that made it illegal to exist as many of our trans friends are existing," Nobles said.
Florida House Representative Dean Black, (R) D-15, supports the new rule. He’s sponsoring legislation that would require the word “sex” be on state IDs rather than “gender.”
"Let's say you're in a bad car accident,” Black said. “Sometimes looking at the driver's license is how they determine if you're a biological male or female and that can matter when they're trying to give emergency, life-saving care to you."
Equality Florida says tens of thousands of Floridians will be impacted by the change when it comes time to renew their licenses.
There is confusion over whether the rule can be used retroactively, meaning that anyone whose license does not indicate their sex assigned at birth could face criminal penalties. Nobles believes it can, but advocates with Equality Florida say the rule cannot work retroactively. The FLHSMV did not answer that question when First Coast News asked.