AAMVA Highlights Best Driver’s License Gender Change Policies
This week the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), an organization that develops model programs for motor vehicle agencies across North America, has released a resource showcasing effective driver’s license gender marker change policies. NCTE worked closely with AAMVA to develop this new resource, and our hope is that it will assist states with outdated or nonexistent gender marker change policies to implement better policies.
The new AAMVA Resource Guide highlights the trends of driver’s license gender change policies and provides sample gender designation forms from across the United States and Canada. The samples are simple, easy-to-complete forms that require no proof of surgery or court order, and the majority can be signed by a wide range of licensed healthcare and social service professionals who can attest to an individual’s gender designation.
Currently there are 13 states with painfully outdated policies for gender marker changes, such as those with surgical requirements or that demand a court order or amended birth certificate, and four states and four territories have no clear policy altogether. NCTE will use this new Resource Guide to continue supporting state and local advocates who are encouraging their DMVs to enact a modernized policy. For more information on the gender marker change policy in your state see our ID Documents Center.
Transgender people deserve to have IDs that match who they are, as this identification is often the gateway to employment, education, housing, and interactions in the community. By moving away from policies that are invasive to the privacy and dignity of transgender individuals, and that are costly or impossible for some people to meet, we advance the right for all of us to participate in civic life authentically. We extend a warm thank you to AAMVA for the opportunity to partner with them on this important resource, and look forward to continued progress modernizing identity document policies.
If you are active in identity document advocacy in your state, please be sure to get in touch with us to coordinate efforts.
