Transgender People in Florida Face Having Their Driver's Licenses Revoked

Transgender people in Florida could have their driver's licenses revoked or face prosecution if they try to change their gender markers, according to a memo shared on social media.

Robert Kynoch, the deputy executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), issued a memo dated January 26 that said "establishing gender on a newly issued Florida Driver License is based on the supporting documents provided with an application," according to a screenshot posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The documents "must be sufficient to establish the identity of the applicant" under Florida law, he said. "Furthermore, misrepresenting one's gender, understood as sex, on a driver license constitutes fraud under s. 322,212, F.S., and subjects an offender to criminal and civil penalties, including cancellation, suspension, or revocation of his or her driver license."

The directive comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have targeted transgender rights in the state, including by banning gender-affirming care for minors, restricting discussion of personal pronouns in schools and forcing people to use certain bathrooms. New laws targeting LGBTQ+ people are also proliferating in other Republican-led states.

Kynoch's memo said the department had rescinded requirements that directed personnel to issue a new license in the event that a licensee "wished to alter the gender marker on his or her license." The department can "issue a replacement license only when a license or permit is lost or stolen, or when there is a subsequent change in the licensee's name, address or restrictions," he wrote.

Kynoch also wrote that the term "gender" does not refer "to a person's internal sense of his or her gender role or identification, but has historically and commonly been understood as a synonym for 'sex,' which is determined by innate and immutable biological and genetic characteristics."

He added that: "a driver license is an identification document and, as such, serves a critical role in assisting public and private entities in correctly establishing the identity of a person presenting the license. Permitting an individual to alter his or her license to reflect an internal sense of gender role or identity, which is neither immutable nor objectively verifiable, undermines the purpose of an identification record and can frustrate the state's ability to enforce its laws."

Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney and clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic who shared the memo on X, wrote: "Any trans person who has had [their license] changed is potentially subject to suspension. Anyone attempting to change it after could be criminally prosecuted for 'fraud.'"

In other posts, Caraballo wrote that "if the language used in this directive is taken at face value, any trans person driving with a changed gender marker on their drivers license could be criminally charged with fraud. This interpretation could potentially apply to anyone driving in the state, including tourists."

Caraballo told Newsweek that the change will "forcibly out" transgender people and put them in danger.

"This is a 'show me your papers' policy for trans people in the state of Florida," she said. "Trans people are now at risk for having their licenses revoked or suspended at any time. It's the legal erasure and criminalization of the entire trans community. It's a dangerous change that will forcibly out trans people and put them at immense risk for discrimination and violence."

In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for the FLHSMV said that after being appointed director of the department by DeSantis in 2023, David Kerner, a former Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, "tasked senior Department leadership with ensuring our policies, procedures, and technical guidance/advisories were consistent with both statutory law and the Department's inherent authority."

The department "is charged with important statutory duties, to include issuance of Florida driver's licenses and identification cards, and to issue replacement credentials under specific circumstances," the statement said.

"Expanding the Department's authority to issue replacement licenses dependent on one's internal sense of gender or sex identification is violative of the law and does not serve to enhance the security and reliability of Florida issued licenses and identification cards. The security, reliability, and accuracy of government issued credentials is paramount. Therefore, the Department has rescinded IR-08 Gender Requirements, and the recission pertains solely to replacement license requests. No changes have been made to the process of establishing gender on a newly issued Florida credential, governed by s. 322.08, F.S."

It comes after at the Florida House Select Committee on Health Innovation approved a bill that would require driver's licenses to display the licensee's sex assigned at birth rather than gender identity.

At least 94,900 adults identify as transgender in Florida, while 16,200 people aged between 13 and 17 identify as transgender in the state, according to a 2022 report published by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Update 1/30/24, 10:45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from Alejandra Caraballo.

Update 1/31/24, 6:32 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add a statement from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.