BY SUSAN TEBBEN
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has changed the way in which gender is noted on drivers licenses and state identification cards, in a move transgender advocates say was made without notice, announcement, or transition period.
A certification form called a Declaration of Gender Change no longer qualifies as a method to update the gender marker on BMV documents, something advocates say transgender Ohioans have used for years.
The form used documented proof of a gender transition attested by a physician, psychologist, or therapist to allow the change.
“Changing a policy this consequential overnight, without warning or transparency, is not an accident – it’s a choice,” said Dwayne Steward, CEO and executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Ohio.
Steward also called the move a “deliberate attempt at voter suppression and an intentional decision to make life harder for transgender Ohioans.”
The Ohio Secretary of State requires photo identification to vote, such as a passport, or a state drivers license, ID card, or interim ID issued by the BMV.
A spokesperson for the Ohio BMV said the bureau determined that the form “is not compatible” with state law, particularly a law that defines gender identity and sex.
“The BMV will record the sex that is stated on an individual’s birth certificate or passport as the sex that will be reflected on the Ohio drivers license or ID card,” a statement from the spokesperson said.
The BMV did not respond to questions from the Capital Journal about whether public notice was required or provided to make the change.
In the most recent state operating budget, the Ohio General Assembly implemented a “sex recognition policy” to apply to state laws. In the provision, effective as of 2025, gender identity is defined as “an individual’s internal and subjective self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an infinite continuum, that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex.”
“Sex” is defined as the “biological indication” of male and female, “without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.”
“It is the policy of the state of Ohio to recognize two sexes, male and female,” the code states. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
The measure comes alongside Trump administration policies that compel the federal government not to recognize transgender, nonbinary, and intersex identities, including in federal data collection.
It also comes after a 2024 Ohio Supreme Court decision in which a transgender woman appealed a decision by the Clark County Probate Court. The court approved her 2021 application for a name change on her birth certificate, but denied her request to correct the sex marker. Supreme court justices said they couldn’t “reach a consensus on how this case should be resolved,” but said the General Assembly has final say on whether further changes can be made to birth certificates. As it stands now, the court said state laws do not allow transgender individuals to correct their birth certificate based on their gender identity.
The Republican supermajority in the General Assembly has indicated they don’t plan to create more openings for transgender individuals, having passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors, and barring transgender students from playing on sports teams based on their gender identity.
Also in Ohio Capital Journal:
ICE has begun targeting and detaining Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun targeting and detaining Haitians in Springfield, Ohio after President Donald Trump revoked their legal status, with at least 29 detained as of Friday last week.
Theresa Hice-Fromille, a board member of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, confirmed that 29 Haitian people had been detained by ICE as of Friday.
Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil issued a statement on the increased ICE activity in the city.
“Behind every number is a human being,” Dorsainvil said. “Behind every detention is a family. Behind every deportation is a mother, a father, a husband, a wife, a child, a friend, a church member, a coworker, or a neighbor whose life may be changed forever.”
This is happening after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled at the end of June that President Donald Trump could end temporary protected status for the 330,000 Haitians who’ve fled the violence in their home country. Legal protected status officially ended for Haitians on July 27. READ MORE
