COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri residents must now submit a gender confirmation transaction or a court order to update their gender on their driver’s license following a Department of Revenue policy change.
Previously, Missouri required a doctor’s authorization, not surgery, to change the gender shown on a state-issued ID card.
The Missouri Department of Revenue did not comment Monday on what prompted the change, but explained the new rules in a statement to The Associated Press.
“Clients are required to either have medical documentation that they have undergone sex reassignment surgery or a court order declaring their gender assignment in order to obtain a driver’s license or a non-driver’s ID that shows a gender other than the gender assigned at birth,” said Anne Marie Moy. in the statement.
On Monday, LGBTQ rights group PROMO criticized the policy change as being done “in secret.”
“We are demanding that Director Wayne Wallingford publicly explain the reason for the sudden change in policy that has been in place since at least 2016,” said PROMO Executive Director Katy Erker-Lynch. “When we asked the representatives of the department why, they said it was ‘after the incident’.”
According to PROMO, the Department of Revenue adopted the previous policy in 2016 with input from transgender leaders in the state.
Some Republican state lawmakers questioned the old policy on gender identity after protests and counter-protests against a transgender woman earlier this month. use of women’s changing rooms at a suburban St. Louis gym.
“I didn’t know there was this uniform that you could (use) to change your gender,” state Rep. Justin Sparks, a Republican, said in a video posted on Facebook earlier this month. “I have assurances from the Department of Revenue that they will change their policy immediately.”
Life Time gym spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw said she previously showed employees a copy of the woman’s driver’s license, which identified her as female.
It’s unclear whether Missouri’s new policy will prevent the former Life Time gym member from entering women’s locker rooms at the fitness center. The woman previously St. Louis told the Post-Dispatch that she has had several gender-affirming surgeries.
Life Time revoked the woman’s membership after the protests, citing “public statements made by this former member that affect safety and security at the club.”
The former member declined to comment to The Associated Press on Monday.
“This action was taken solely out of safety concerns,” spokesman Dan DeBaun said in a statement. “Life Time will continue to operate our clubs in a safe and secure manner, while following Missouri law to protect individuals’ human rights.”
Missouri has no laws dictating transgender bathroom use. But Missouri is among at least 24 states that have passed the laws restrict or prohibit sex-affirming medical care for minors.
“Missouri continues to prove that it is a state committed to promoting the erasure of transgender, gender-broad and non-binary Missourians,” Erker-Lynch said.