Arkansas groups rally against new ID policy deeming it "not necessary"

[Jessica_Rose]

Arkansas groups rally against new ID policy deeming it "not necessary"

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/arkansas-groups-rally-against-new-id-policy-deeming-it-not-necessary/ar-BB1kB2UZ?ocid=windirect&cvid=291c1bdcd0e04bdf9ac8902f54bd4a01&ei=5

Story by Brenda Lepenski (27 March 2024)

Central Arkansas Pride, along with other LGBTQIA+ organizations, allies, and legislators gathered at the state capitol to rally against the state's new driver's license policy.

The revised policy effective March 12th required Arkansas ID holders to use the gender listed on their birth certificate and eliminated the option to choose 'X' as a nonbinary gender marker.

Morgan Erby-Taylor, a transwoman said this new policy change was "not necessary".

"Fourteen years it's been on the books that a person could self-identify their gender and then, because Governor Sanders decides that she wants to pander to her ultra-conservative base, she decides to change it," Erby-Taylor said. "There was no need for that."

"I'm a health care worker, I moderate a support group. I'm a parent, a grandparent, a US Army veteran," Erby-Taylor said. "You know, we're no threat to the community, if anything we add to the community."

"It's going to create anxiety, [and] it's going to create stress that might create negative health outcomes," Johnson said. "What it also does is the other person that's verifying the ID, [are] also put in an interesting situation, because they now have to ask questions, 'Why doesn't this match?' and that might ultimately present certain safety issues."