SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – A quiet move just made it harder for Missourians to alter their gender on their driver’s license.
It comes after the Missouri Department of Revenue changed how Missourians could legally update gender.
”It’s just very discouraging,” said Torin Bowen.
For Bowen, being a part of the LGBTQ+ is not easy.
”It’s hard enough living as a transgender person,” he says.
Last year, Bowen started the process of getting his gender changed on his ID.
Around that time, the requirement to make the change seemed simple. Just fill out a gender designation change request form, also called Form 5532, and all that you need to get approval is a physician, therapist, or social worker’s signature.
However, Bowen was surprised at the license office.
He says, ”I had a doctor, a therapist, everything lined up. I went to the DMV to ask my questions and find out about the form, and I was told because I had not had any surgeries yet, I could not change my gender marker.”
”The process of changing your gender marker has never been perfect in Missouri. It has been very difficult for people to do so Form 5532 was an attempt at making it a little bit easier,” said Robert Fischer with PROMO.
Now, the requirement is transitioning surgery or a court order, and the DMV removed form 5532 from the website and state offices.
A statement from the Department of Revenue says:
”Form 5532 is no longer needed. Customers are required to provide either medical documentation that they have undergone gender reassignment surgery, or a court order declaring gender designation to obtain a driver license or nondriver ID card denoting gender other than their biological gender assigned at birth.”
People who try to use the form will be told it’s no longer accepted. In response to the change, a statewide LGBTQ+ organization has come up with the ID for Me Campaign.
”The reason why we launch this campaign is because of the difficulties that we’ve heard of the last week from Missourians who frankly aren’t able to change your gender marker at all,” said Fischer.
The plan allows LGBTQ+ members to file reports if they’re struggling to get their name or gender marker changed.
”At the end of the day, we’re just people,” Bowen expressed.
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