COLUMBIA, Missouri — Missouri residents must now provide proof of gender confirmation surgery or a court order to change their gender on their driver’s license, following a policy change by the IRS.
Previously, Missouri required a doctor’s permission, but not surgery, to change the gender on a state-issued ID.
The Missouri Tax Commission did not comment Monday on what prompted the change, but did explain the new rules in a statement to The Associated Press.
“Customers must provide medical documentation proving they have undergone gender reassignment surgery or a court order indicating gender in order to obtain a driver’s license or ID card that states a gender other than the biological sex they were assigned at birth,” spokeswoman Anne Marie Moy said in the statement.
LGBTQ+ rights group PROMO criticized the policy change on Monday, calling it “secret.”
“We are demanding that Director Wayne Wallingford explain to the public why there is such a sudden change in a policy that has been in place since at least 2016,” PROMO Executive Director Katy Erker-Lynch said in a statement. “When we asked department representatives why, they said it was ‘after an incident.’”
According to PROMO, the IRS adopted the previous policy in 2016 with input from transgender leaders in the state.
Some Republican lawmakers in the state had questioned the longtime gender identification policy following protests and counterprotests earlier this month over the sexual assault of a transgender woman. use of women’s changing rooms in a gym in a suburb of St. Louis.
“I didn’t even know this form existed that would allow you to change your gender, which is genetically physically impossible,” Republican Rep. Justin Sparks said in a video posted to Facebook earlier this month. “I have assurances from the Department of Revenue that they are going to change their policy immediately.”
Natalie Bushaw, a spokeswoman for Life Time gym, said earlier that the woman showed staff a copy of her driver’s license, which showed she was a woman.
It’s unclear whether Missouri’s new policy would have prevented the former Life Time gym member from entering the women’s locker rooms at the fitness center. The woman previously told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she has undergone multiple gender confirmation surgeries.
Life Time revoked the woman’s membership following the protests, citing “publicly available statements made by this former member that impact the safety and security of the club.”
The former member declined to comment to The Associated Press on Monday.
“This action was taken solely for safety reasons,” spokesman Dan DeBaun said in a statement. “Life Time will continue to operate our clubs in a safe and secure manner, while also following Missouri laws that are in place to protect the human rights of individuals.”
Missouri has no laws requiring transgender people to use the bathroom. But Missouri is one of at least 24 states that have passed laws restrict or prohibit gender-affirming medical care for minors.
“Missouri proves once again that it is a state committed to eradicating transgender, gender-expansive, and non-binary Missourians,” Erker-Lynch said.
