Trans woman denied female driver’s licence (VIDEO)
Alexandra Glover was told that she would not told she can’t ‘misrepresent’ herself as a woman in her driver’s licence photo.
The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles has said it will review its photograph policy after a transgender woman was refused a driver’s license for not looking “male enough”.
After being rejected at for a new licence by a number of locations, Ms Glover’s friend suggested the pair should begin filming any further rejections as proof of discrimination.
So last week, the pair went back to one of the offices that rejected them, where they recorded an unidentified employee telling Ms Glover: “You can’t present as a woman if you’re listed as a man.
“If you have make up on or anything like that you’re supposed to take all that off, because you are actually a man.”
Ms Glover said she simply wanted a driver’s license with an accurate picture, rather than an official gender marker change on her ID. It would say M.
Trans activists say that the state of Louisiana is one of a minority of states that are lagging when it comes to accommodating trans people with regards to gender identification laws.
Alison Gill of the Human Rights Campaign, said the rule “actually (puts) up a barrier that makes the identification document less useful, because it doesn’t actually match what she looks like.”
If Ms Glover did want to alter the gender marker on her ID, Louisiana law would require her to submit a medical statement proving she underwent sexual reassignment surgery — an “inappropriately high standard,” said Gill, who is an expert in trans issues.
“Not all transgender people desire any particular type of medical intervention, or intervention at all,” Gill told The Advocate.
Furthermore, Ms Glover said the ordeal has exposed a lack of understanding between sex and gender.
“I don’t plan on getting my gender changed or my sex changed on my ID. I’m still 21.
“If I get to that place in my life where I feel like I want to make that type of decision, that’s fine,” she said, adding that she considers herself female.
“I just wanted to wear my makeup, for Pete’s sake.”
OMV Commissioner Stephen Campbell denied accusations of bigotry, claiming Louisiana’s policies were “very up-to-date.”
“It’s biological,” he said. “You pick one or the other. We believe that’s not stereotyping someone, not placing someone into a category other than what they biologically are.”
Sounds a tad bigoted to us.
See the full clip below.
My friend Alex Glover was getting another license at the Baton Rouge DMV and was denied her license for being transgender. Telling her that she’s not allowed to look female in her drivers license and must present as male when she’s clearly a female with or with out make up. So what are we to do? Something must be done.
Posted by Harlee Poitra on Saturday, 5 September 2015
