WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Members of the trans community will no longer be able to change their sex designation on their drivers licenses or ID cards, according to a recently released memo from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Leaders within in the department said the change that was once allowed is now in violation of state law.
Molly Best, with the department's communication office, said in an email that Dave Kerner, former mayor of Palm Beach County and current executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, asked leadership within his office to ensure policies and procedures were consistent with statutory law.
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A person’s gender displayed on the driver's license and ID cards must be taken from a primary identification document.
Outside the downtown West Palm Beach driver's license office, WPTV spoke with Audrey Jefferson, who said she once identified as trans.
"It was a choice I wish I didn't make, but now I feel so much better now, I'm happier," Jefferson said.
She said her inner peace is more important than a letter on a license.
"It's all about being happy," Jefferson said. "Like, are you truly happy? That's what it really boils down to, and if you are happy, then you do that."
WPTV asked Michael Riordan, a member of the trans community, why the sexual designations on licenses and IDs are important to people like her.
"It's a recognition of who you are as a human being," Riordan said. "It's a recognition that, yes, you exist. Yes, you're respected. Yes, you're a member of society. You are a member of who we are. That letter is a way for people to feel whole and complete, and I wouldn't expect people that don't experience this to understand exactly how important it is."
Riordan, who also serves as communications director of the Compass Center, said given her background, it's hard not to take the rule change personally.
"Obviously, as a transgender person living in Florida, I'm crushed to see the state government being weaponized against any citizen of Florida on a deeply personal level," Riordan said. "I'm scared."
Best went on to write that "the department's authority to issue replacement licenses dependent on one's internal sense of gender or sex identification is violative of state law and does not serve to enhance the security and stability of Florida-issued licenses and ID cards."
The change went into effect last week.
Riordan said it doesn't send a good message to Americans.
"Their freedoms can be plucked away from them in an instant with a rule change," Riordan said. "This is outside the legislative process. This has gone outside the democratic process. This was just implemented."
The now-rescinded rule used to allow trans individuals to provide a note from a physician treating them for gender dysphoria before getting a gender change on replacement licenses.