The state of the Texas banned transgender people from changing the gender listed on theirs passporta step that caused great controversy and concern among civil rights advocates. The decision, confirmed this week by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPSfor its acronym in English), strong criticism from groups that protect the LGBTIQ community.
Until now, residents of this state could update their species Official ID by court order or amended birth certificatebut, according to an internal DPS memo, now “the gender appearing on the original birth certificate shall take precedence”and documents that contradict previously filed information will not be accepted, he said. The Washington Post.
The new rules consider the able to change the gender shown on the card, but only in cases where there has been an “administrative error”and not in those where the person has changed their gender identity and wants this decision to be reflected in the document. DPS said the rule changes respond to legal concerns about the authority of state courts to issue orders changing the gender of official documents.
Brad PritchettThe interim executive director of Equality Texas, was outraged by the measure, noting that it denied a transgender person the ability to have an ID that reflects their identity. It is a lack of respect for your basic dignity. “We use our IDs to go through all areas of our lives, driving, voting. “Having an ID that reflects who you are is a basic form of dignity that many people take for granted,” he said in a statement.
For his part, Emmett Schellingexecutive director of the Texas Transgender Education Network, noted that this new policy It is not an isolated incident, but part of an “anti-trans movement” that is expanding across the country. “When they attack us, they are attacking the transgender population of the country as a whole,” he said.
With this measure, Texas joins a group of other states such as Kansas o Floridawhere decisions are made in the same sense. This joins a series of initiatives that the Lone Star State has adopted in recent years that seek to limit the rights of transgender people.
In 2021, the governor Greg Abbott banning transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports in public schoolsand in 2022 mandated sex-affirming health care studies for minorsproving it as child abuse, making it one of more than 20 states to move in that same direction. In addition, Texas state legislature passes law banning gender-identifying care for transgender youth.
Meanwhile, dozens of designated school districts bathrooms that transgender students must use, let teachers call students by their biological agents rather than the preferred pronoun, and They restricted the topics of gender and sexuality in the programs.
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