Groups Applaud DMV Gender Marker Change

On Wednesday, the North Carolina Department of Transportation released a Sex Designation Form that will now be used to streamline the process for changing the gender marker on driver’s licenses and state identification cards. This change will make the process to update a person’s gender marker uniform for DMV customers across the state.

The new procedure for changing the gender marker on a driver’s license is recommended by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and is used by 21 other states. The Sex Designation Form replaces the former requirement for a surgeon’s letter and can be authorized by a broader range of providers.

“We still have a long way to go before LGBTQ+ North Carolinians are seen as equal citizens in the eyes of the law, but this is one step in that direction,” said Equality NC Executive Director Kendra R. Johnson. “People of all genders shouldn’t have to face invasive questioning and surgical requirements just to have their government identification reflect their true identity. Trans men are men and trans women are women — period.”

”As recently as 2015, 77% of transgender North Carolinians responded to the U.S. Transgender Survey that they had not updated a single form of identification, putting them at risk of harassment and violence whenever they present that ID,” said Equality NC Policy Director Ames Simmons. “DMV’s policy update will put accurate ID in the hands of more trans people in our state and help to reduce violence based on gender identity and expression.”

“We applaud this step the DMV has taken to modernize the process to update gender markers on driver’s licenses,” said Sarah Gillooly, Director of Political Strategy & Advocacy for the ACLU of North Carolina. “Driver’s licenses are basic forms of identification that many people use to participate in public life, and this policy update will help transgender North Carolinians do just that.”