HOUSTON — Texas is blocking trans people from changing the sex on their driver’s license.
KHOU 11 Investigates obtained an internal email from the Texas Department of Public Safety instructing employees to deny the requests and to keep a record of the applicants.
The move is upsetting for people who were already in the process of having their documents changed.
Until recently, Drew Hayes, 19, hid his identity from the world.
“I felt really misunderstood a lot,” Drew Hayes said.
Drew was born a girl, enjoyed playing dress up, going to the beach, and the hair salon. But his mother, Stacie, says she soon realized her baby was a spitfire.
“He was digging up rocks with guys and ripping up the jeans and coming home totally mangled and filthy because they were out there doing guy things,” Stacie Hayes said.
During his school years, Drew says he dressed more femininely to fit in.
“I wanted to become this perfect woman that everyone expects me to be,” Drew said. “It was really hard, and that eventually drove me to my breaking point.”
Drew got help and became comfortable going public as a man. He began hormone therapy when he turned 18, but that did not change the way the world saw him.
“I went to the pharmacy, and I showed them my ID and the picture looks like me, but the names not, I guess what they'd expect. And, so, they're like and what's your relation to this person? Like, oh, it's me,” Drew said.
To clear up any confusion, Drew began the process of legally changing his name and gender identity marker on his social security card, birth certificate, and driver’s license.
“I wanted to get it done as soon as possible,” Drew said.
Drew filed a petition with the court in 2023. When a judge rejected it, his mother hired an attorney. Nearly a year later, a different judge ordered that his, “Texas birth certificate shall be corrected pursuant to Texas health and safety code to reflect sex/gender as male.”
“It was a huge deal for me,” Drew said.
Drew got a new social security card. Then, he went to get his driver’s license changed. On August 19, he got an appointment with the Texas DPS.
But the very next day, on August 20, the Texas DPS changed its policy. According to a memo KHOU 11 obtained through a public records request, the DPS notified the Driver’s License Division to “no longer accept court orders for amended birth certificates that change the sex.”
“I thought it would be no big deal. I thought, people change their name all the time,” Stacie said.
Stacie went with Drew to the DPS office in Decatur hoping word of the new policy hadn’t made it to the small town.
“She (DLD worker) was like, I am so sorry, I can’t do this for you,” Drew said.
They didn’t stop there.
“We just happened to get another appointment for the same day, which felt like a miracle,” Drew said.
It was 30 minutes away, in Bowie, and they thought maybe they would get it.
“She took my photo for my license and everything. She entered stuff in. She scanned stuff. And, I was like, shaking. I was so overjoyed. And then, she was like, I’m so sorry. I can’t do it for you,” Drew said.
If gender markers on legal documents don't match, Stacie and Drew fear it could lead to confusion or even violence.
“He looks like a guy. He presents a driver’s license. Is somebody going to be upset enough by that to harm him,” Stacie said.
But what they found even more concerning is the DPS directive says, “all court order sex documentation that cannot be processed … be scanned … and the customer’s name and dl/id number be emailed to DLCourtorders@dps.texas.gov.”
“It’s scary because they’re making a database of us. You know that. That brings up a lot of red flags. What does that mean and why,” Drew said.
Since August, at least 37 people have been added to the database.
“I feel that whole community is under attack,” Stacie said.
As for Drew’s driver’s license, he could get a new court order to have just his name changed. But his gender would remain female.
“I can’t because that’s denying who I am,” Drew said.
Two weeks after the DPS changed its policy, the Texas Department of State Health Services said it would no longer allow transgender people to use court orders to get their sex changed on birth certificates.
DSHS sent us the following statement.
“Recent public reports have highlighted concerns about the validity of court orders purporting to amend sex for purposes of state-issued documents. DSHS is seeking assistance from the Office of Attorney General to determine the applicability of these concerns to amendments to vital records. DSHS is no longer altering applicants’ sex on birth or death certificates based on these court orders.”
We also reached out to the DPS, the Texas Attorney General’s Office, and the Governor’s Office to ask why the state is collecting information on applicants, and what they intend to do with it. None of those agencies responded.
If you are transgender and are in the need of help with getting your legal identification changed, there are resources available.
Contact the ACLU of Texas legal intake and the Lambda Legal Health Desk if you or someone you know is directly impacted by DPS’s new rule.
For assistance with the process of obtaining a court order or updating your other legal documents, visit TransLegalAidTX.com or other clinics across the state.
The ACLU of Texas has created a “FACT SHEET” on the DPS’s refusal to update gender markers on driver’s licenses and identification cards. Here's a link to view it.