Lawsuit claims Alabama’s driver’s license policy discriminates against transgender people

Three people sued Alabama on Tuesday saying the state violated their rights by not recognizing their sex changes on their driver’s licenses.

Alabama’s policy requires individuals to provide an amended birth certificate or a doctor’s note declaring gender reassignment surgery was performed.

But the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs, said the policy is too strict.

“Surgery is not what all transgender people need, want, or can afford. The state does not have a right to determine which medical procedures a person has, nor can they force surgery on an entire class of people,” said Brock Boone, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Alabama.

Alabama is one of nine states that require proof of surgery before altering a driver’s license. Most states only require a form to be filled out by a medical professional, according to the ACLU.

In one instance Destiny Clark, one of those suing, provided a doctor’s note declaring she had obtained “gender-confirming” surgery. The clerk refused to issue her an updated driver’s license and called her doctor’s office without permission to inquire about what type of anesthesia was used during her surgery and exactly what procedure was performed, the lawsuit says.

“Defendants accept only some forms of gender-confirming surgery as sufficient, while rejecting others as insufficient,” the ACLU said in the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

The ACLU is asking the judge to rule Alabama’s policy unconstitutional.

To change a passport, the federal government requires a doctor’s certification that their patient “has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender.”