Missouri residents are now required to provide proof of gender-affirmation surgery or a court order to update their gender on driver's licenses, as per a recent policy change by the Revenue Department. Previously, the state only required doctor approval, without the necessity of surgery, to change the gender listed on state-issued identification.
The Revenue Department did not provide specific reasons for the change but outlined the new rules, stating that customers must present medical documentation of gender reassignment surgery or a court order declaring gender designation to obtain a driver's license or nondriver ID card reflecting a gender different from their biological gender assigned at birth.
The LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group PROMO criticized the policy shift, calling it a secretive move and demanding an explanation from Director Wayne Wallingford regarding the sudden change in a policy that had been in place since at least 2016.
Republican state lawmakers had raised concerns about the previous policy on gender identifications following recent protests over a transgender woman's use of women's changing rooms at a gym in suburban St. Louis. The gym revoked the woman's membership citing safety concerns, although the woman had shown a driver's license identifying her as female.
Missouri does not have laws governing transgender people's bathroom use but is among the states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for minors. The state's recent policy change has sparked criticism from advocacy groups, who view it as erasing the rights of transgender, gender expansive, and nonbinary individuals in Missouri.
