Idaho Amends Policy for Changing Gender Marker on Driver's Licenses

[Shana A]

 Idaho Amends Policy for Changing Gender Marker on Driver's Licenses
New Policy Allows Transgender Persons to Correct Gender Markers Without Showing Proof of Surgery
April 23, 2013

http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/idaho-amends-policy-changing-gender-marker-drivers-licenses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Transportation Department has amended its policy regarding changes to driver's licenses to allow transgender individuals to correct the gender markers on their licenses without showing proof they have undergone surgery.

"We're glad that the state has recognized the important and legitimate needs of transgender Idahoans," said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU of Idaho. "All Idahoans should be able to get a driver's license that correctly reflects who they are without disclosing sensitive personal information completely unrelated to their ability to drive. The state did the right thing in updating its policy."

The Idaho Transportation Department agreed to change its policy after the ACLU of Idaho expressed concern on behalf of two transgender Idahoans who previously updated their driver's licenses to match their gender identity, but whose licenses the Transportation Department cancelled upon realizing later that they had not submitted proof of surgery.

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Idaho OKs transgender licenses

Posted: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 12:03 am
Associated Press

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/article_a8031ec4-aca4-11e2-b13c-0019bb2963f4.html

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Transportation Department this week agreed to new regulations allowing transgender drivers to change the sex designation on their driver's licenses without a note from a surgeon, after two people complained that previous policy violated their civil rights.

In April 2011, the highway agency began requiring a signed surgeon's note signifying the individual "had undergone a complete surgical change of gender."

Early this year, two people were blocked from getting their driver's licenses.

Through the American Civil Liberties Union, they complained this was an invasion of their privacy as well as an arbitrary requirement, since only a fraction of people undergoing a gender transformation do so through surgical intervention.