TALLAHASSEE, FL — Today, the Florida House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee voted to advance House Bill 1639 (HB 1639), which seeks to deny the legal existence of transgender individuals by requiring individuals to identify as their sex assigned at birth instead of their gender on their driver’s licenses and ID cards. The bill requires health plans to cover the widely discredited practice of conversion therapy and creates additional obstacles for health plans to cover gender-affirming care.
The ACLU of Florida opposes HB 1639.
Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel at the ACLU of Florida, responded with the following:
“HB 1639 seeks to erase from public life transgender Floridians by preventing them from being able to hold a valid driver's license unless they indicate on their driver's license application their sex assigned at birth. Politicians are not only trying to censor and erase the very existence of trans individuals, but they are also forcing individuals to choose between their gender identity or lawfully driving.
“HB 1639 is silent on the consequences for transgender individuals who identify their gender on their driver's license or other government-issued identification instead of their sex assigned at birth. Will their license be revoked? Will they no longer be able to hold a valid driver's license? We ask these questions because they are not answered in the bill.
“Imagine a police officer pulling someone over for speeding and questioning the driver about whether the male or female designation on their license reflects the officer’s assumption about a person’s gender. Are we really passing legislation that requires adults to prove their gender at traffic stops? Would the officer be able to confiscate the license if they refused?
“The government should not be forcing Floridians to surrender their privacy for simply driving. HB 1639 is harmful, vague, and does nothing to improve the lives of Floridians.
“We need politicians to stay out of our private lives and focus on passing laws that actually help Florida’s economic growth, solve our insurance and affordable housing crisis, protect our environment, and ensure everyone has access to health care.”
