An 11th state is set to ban updating gender markers on licenseshttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/07/an-11th-state-is-set-to-ban-updating-gender-markers-on-licenses/ 🔗Faefyx Collington (29 July 2026)
South Dakota is reportedly set to enforce a policy that will make it impossible for trans people in the state to update the gender marker on their driver's license. However, the policy has not yet been enacted, meaning trans people may still have a small window to update their gender markers.
There are currently ten states that bar trans people from obtaining an accurate driver's license. Some have passed laws that strictly forbid gender correction for licenses under any circumstances; others have created policies that rely on other restrictions to do the job, such as requiring an amended birth certificate in a state where one cannot be legally obtained.
The South Dakota drivers' license policy is set to mimic the second option. In March, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden (R) signed HB 1184, which banned legal recognition of trans identities by defining "sex" as "an individual's biological sex, either male or female." The law restricted trans people from updating their birth certificates. It was also signed less than a month after the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that a trans woman could not update her birth certificate and neither could other trans people born in the state.
However, it wasn't clear exactly how that law and ruling would impact drivers' licenses. While an amended birth certificate could be used to update the gender marker on a license, it was not the only method.
