老澳门开奖结果

Brief Challenges Requirement that Transgender Persons Undergo Surgery to Correct Gender on License

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

ANCHORAGE, Alaska 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Alaska filed a brief today seeking to allow transgender individuals to correct the gender marker on their driver's licenses without undergoing major surgery. The surgery requirement places an undue burden on transgender individuals and presents a gross violation of an individual鈥檚 right to privacy.

鈥淚t is unfair and unnecessary to require that transgender people undergo prohibitively expensive and drastic surgery in order to have accurate identity documents,鈥� said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Alaska. 鈥淣o one should have to disclose sensitive personal information or be forced to make major medical decisions in order to get a driver鈥檚 license.鈥�

The brief is being filed on behalf of a transgender woman, K.L., whose United States passport and work documents all identify her as a female. After initially securing a change to the gender on her driver鈥檚 license, she was told that her new license would be revoked unless she submitted proof of having surgery. The American Psychiatric Association and medical experts agree that surgery is medically necessary for some with gender identity disorder (GID), but not for everyone. Treatment for GID is individualized, and some can be effectively treated without it, making it unnecessary for the state to confirm whether or not an individual has had surgery before correcting a license. Additionally, such surgery is extremely expensive and potentially dangerous. The State Department no longer requires transgender people to have surgery before it will correct the gender marker on passports and a growing number of states have stopped requiring surgery for changing the gender marker on a driver鈥檚 license.

鈥淗aving a driver鈥檚 license that doesn鈥檛 match my appearance and identity would place me at risk of discrimination and physical harm,鈥� said K.L., who has lived as a woman for two years.

The state supreme court has found that the Alaska Constitution鈥檚 privacy clause protects individuals鈥� right to self-expression and to be free from the disclosure of sensitive personal information and government intrusions on their decisions about medical care.

鈥淭he surgery requirement not only violates Alaska鈥檚 laws, it demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about what it means to be transgender,鈥� said John Knight, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. 鈥淭he state cannot deny transgender people an accurate driver鈥檚 license based on an arbitrary and unconstitutional policy that clashes with accepted medical standards.鈥�

The brief can be found at:

Attorneys include Knight of the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, Thomas Stenson of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Alaska and Stephanie Boehl of Perkins Coie.