"whatever your gender identity is, that should be on the license"

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Thursday August 04, 2011 · 9:00 AM PDT

2011/08/04 · 09:00

It has been a week of pretty depressing stories, including a death of a brave transwoman in Malaysia, a shooting in DC, a housekeeper being fired for being trans, and a walk-out at a funeral. So some better news seems needed.

Did you know that there is an organization called the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators? Me neither. Nor did I know how much power they wielded.

AAMVA is a non-profit organization that makes recommendations on driving issues to all the states.

Yesterday the AAMVA hosted a webinar on transgender issues and driver's licenses. The AAMVA will suggest that transgender drivers be given IDs with their preferred gender marker, so long as a licensed medical provider signs off on it.

This is a customer service issue as far as we're concerned. The driver's license has become the de facto form of ID… whatever your gender identity is, that should be on the license.
--Thomas Manuel, director of driver fitness, AAMVA

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality says the NCTE judges just a handful of states to have good policies in this regard.

Several states require transfolk to prove that they have had irreversible gender reassignment surgery before they will change the gender marker. The recommended policy will be in line with what the US government requires for passports.

Illinois is currently in the process of re-writing its policy to more easily allow transgender people to change their birth certificates [after a court ruling]. Alaska is currently facing a lawsuit over denying a transgender woman a gender marker change on her driver's license.

Everyone knows that a driver's license is fundamental.

It's what you show when you get a new job. It's what you show when you go to the bank. It's what you show when you go to a night club.
--Mara Keisling

Keisling, Lisa Mottet (transgender civil rights project director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force), and Harper Jean Tobin (NCTE policy council) presented at the webinar.

According to Manuel, updating transgender policies can save DMVs both time and money. Enforcing strict and complicated policies often takes extra resources. Still, he said, it is not certain how many states will adopt the AAMVA recommendations, which Manuel also wrote about in the organization's magazine, MOVE.

There will be nothing officially required of the states participating in the webinar…for now. What they are addressing now is awareness. Eventually, the AAMVA expects to draft an official "best practice recommendation".

Manuel acknowledged that move was controversial to some. But he said, his organization was following American Medical Association guidelines that suggest transgender people be allowed to live in their preferred gender.
"You don't want to let your personal beliefs or feelings come into this matter," he said. "This particular part of the population needs to have identification."

Personally I have no problem with people's "personal beliefs or feelings" being involved…as long as they reveal fairness and equity.

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