The Department of State Health Services Quietly Rolls Out A Policy That Targets Trans Texans

LGBTQ advocacy and civil rights organizations are evaluating what procedures were bypassed by the Department of State Health Services after the agency quietly rolled out a policy change that blocks the ability for transgender Texans to change their gender on birth certificates.

“We’re trying to create solutions,” Andrea Segovia, policy and field director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, said. “It’s very much building the plane as we fly it because this was such an out-of-the-blue attack.”

The move to only approve changes to children’s birth certificates due to hospital error or omission comes after the Texas Department of Public Safety altered policy, no longer allowing modifications to gender markers on state-issued IDs and driver’s licenses.

The policy change effectively halted Texas DPS from accepting court orders for this purpose. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a vocal opponent of the LGBTQ community, questioned the validity of these court orders.

According to reports, a spokesman from the state health agency said the birth certificate policy change could be attributed to the same line of questioning. Similar to the switch-up by Texas DPS, the Department of State Health Services did not publicly announce the policy change, which went discreetly into effect on Friday.

“This was not something the attorney general made a press release about or did an interview on. Legally, they should not be able to do this,” Segovia said. “It shouldn’t be that the attorney general kind of snaps his fingers, and people say, okay, let’s do it. There are systems. People have to have meetings and decide on these things.”

Segovia emphasized that the policy change is not a new law, opinion or directive by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. She added that this has made navigating steps to hold Paxton accountable a bit more complicated.

“But, we know we are moving to hold him accountable for this,” she said.

Segovia noted that Paxton had requested a compiled list of residents who had changed their genders on their licenses from the Texas DPS in 2022, to which the agency said the data requested would not be possible to collect at that time.

“That did not satisfy him, so instead, he moved to say, ‘Okay, let’s just stop this process altogether,’” she said.

Although transgender Texans will no longer be able to alter their genders on their birth certificates or driver’s licenses, Segovia stressed that there are still some options for them to get their name and gender marker changed on official documents.

Segovia said individuals can update their passports or request passport cards with the updated information. The Transgender Education Network of Texas has created an informational guide on the topic and is requesting that anyone with questions regarding the subject email support@transtexas.org.