Texas attorney general Ken Paxton makes chilling demand for list of every trans person in the state

Dec 16 2022
Written by Theo Burman

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton superimposed against a backdrop of LGBTQ+ activists

Texas’ attorney general Ken Paxton has a long history of attacks on the trans community. (Getty/Splash)

Texas Republican attorney general Ken Paxton has made a horrifying request for a list of every trans person in the state, including personal details such as driving license information.

Paxton ordered the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender on department records in the last two years.

In an email to the department’s driving license division, demands were made for “the total number of changes from male to female and female to male for the last 24 months, broken down by month”.

“Ultimately, our team advised the attorney general’s office the data requested neither exists nor could be accurately produced” said DPS spokesman Travis Considine. “Thus, no data of any kind was provided.”

Not making this up: Texas’s Republican Attorney General, Ken Paxton, literally demanded a list of transgender Texans without any reason. Make no mistake: this is another attempt to target the LGBTQ+ community & come after young people in Texas. And Gen Z will not stand for this.
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) December 14, 2022

The request from Paxton’s office was not carried out through official channels as it was made directly to the driver license division rather than through the DPS.

A reason for the request was not given, but LGBTQ+ communities in Texas have speculated that the personal information could be used to restrict the ability of transgender Texans to transition.

One staffer at the DPS said that Ken Paxton’s office later would want “a list of names” and “the number of people who had had a legal sex change”.

The move comes as part of a concentrated effort from Texas Republicans to crack down on LGBT rights and specifically transgender rights.

Last year governor Greg Abbott introduced new legislation banning transgender children from participating in sports according to their gender identity in public schools.

Earlier this year, Abbott also ordered an official investigation into gender-affirming healthcare as a form of child abuse. Bills have also been proposed in the state legislature that would ban gender-affirming healthcare and place age restrictions on all drag shows.