Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says transgender people cannot change the sex on their driver’s licenses and birth certificates, and that any court orders doing so are “void.”
In an opinion issued Friday morning, Paxton said district court judges do not have the power to tell state agencies to change the sex on state documents through a court order. Any such changes made in the past have to be reversed right now, he added.
“State agencies must immediately correct any unlawfully altered driver’s licenses or birth certificates that were changed pursuant to such orders,” Paxton wrote.
Spokespeople with the Department of Public Safety, which issues driver’s licenses, and Department of State Health Services, which handles birth certificates, said the agencies are reviewing the opinion.
An attorney general’s opinion is not legally binding. But these can be used in a court of law to argue a case. According to the agency’s website, “the Office of the Attorney General has no authority to enforce its opinions.”
Agencies often defer to Paxton as the state’s lawyer. But how this opinion will be received by state court judges is still uncertain. Paxton specifically called out judges in the Austin area in the missive.
Travis County District Court Judge Laurie Eiserloh, who has signed these court orders, emphasized the separation of powers in a statement to The Texas Newsroom.
“The Judiciary is an independent branch of government. In all cases, judges rule on the motions and facts before us in a fair and just manner. I will continue to do that as the people of Travis County elected me to do in accordance with the law,” Eiserloh said.
It’s unclear how many of the estimated 92,900 transgender adults in Texas have succeeded in changing their driver’s licenses and birth certificates. If followed by state agencies, Paxton’s opinion could mean those documents become unusable.
Brad Pritchett, the interim CEO of LGBTQ rights group Equality Texas, said Paxton's opinion attacks law-abiding Texans.
“Ken Paxton is the lawyer for the state, his job is to interpret law, not to make it. So, it’s important to point out that his opinion is just that — an opinion. But if state agencies follow this directive, it will jeopardize the safety of the nearly 100,000 trans people in the state," he said in a statement.
For years, transgender Texans had been able to change the sex listed on their driver’s licenses and birth certificates to match their gender identity by obtaining a court order and providing this information to the state agency issuing those documents.
The practice was halted last year, however, for anything but fixing a clerical error. State agencies pointed to Paxton as the reason they reversed the policy, saying he questioned its legality.
Paxton’s new opinion takes this reversal a step further.
He said any driver’s licenses or birth certificates that were “unlawfully altered” by state agencies now “require immediate correction.” In making his argument, Paxton said state agencies that maintain and issue these documents have to make sure they are consistent, and added that there is no Texas law explicitly allowing these changes.
“There is no statute or regulation that would permit the inclusion of a person’s perceived ‘gender’ on driver’s licenses or birth certificates,” Paxton wrote.
In a press release, Paxton added a political flair to the opinion. He echoed President Donald Trump’s recent executive order declaring that there are only “two sexes” that are not changeable.
“Radical left-wing judges do not have jurisdiction to order agencies to violate the law nor do they have the authority to overrule reality," Paxton said.
