Texas DPS Collects Data on Transgender Residents Seeking Gender Marker Changes

The state has not disclosed why this information is being collected or with whom it is shared, as restrictions on transgender rights intensify under recent policies and opinions.

• The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has documented at least 42 instances of transgender individuals requesting changes to the sex marker on their driver's licenses over the past five months.
• A 2024 policy prevents transgender Texans from updating the gender marker on their licenses unless correcting clerical errors, even with legal documentation.
• DPS employees were instructed to email information about such requests to an internal address labeled 'Sex Change Court Order,' raising privacy concerns.
• Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a non-binding opinion on March 14, 2025, stating that transgender Texans cannot change sex markers on IDs and that previously updated documents must be reverted.
• The DPS has not clarified the purpose of this data collection, how it is being used, or with whom it is being shared, prompting public scrutiny and alarm.

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