“Mr. Doe experiences distress whenever he sees the gender listed on his own license” states the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit against the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA).
The suit was filed on Tuesday and claims the State of Alabama restricts the rights of transgender people by not allowing them to choose which gender their state issued ID identifies them as.
Alabama is one of only nine states that requires proof of reassignment surgery before the gender on the state issued ID can be changed. Both trans-rights activists and the ACLU consider this a restriction of the rights of those who identify as transgender who either select not to have the surgery, or are unable to afford it.
The ACLU, and two Alabama trans women, Darcy Corbitt and Destiny Clark, believe that by changing this policy trans people will be safer, and more comfortable during everyday activities.
“Corbitt was loudly called an “it” in a public area of a crowded driver license office” and “Clark avoids lawful activities that could lead her to have to show her license,” states the lawsuit.
According to AL.com, “Eighty percent of the transgender people in Alabama don’t have identification that accurately reflects their gender.”
Clark’s motivation behind the lawsuit is to clear a path for younger transgender’s, and to protect them from some of the embarrassment she has experienced. Corbitt believes that the state does not have the right to define their gender identities as their worth.
Below is an ACLU video featuring Darcy and Destiny, two of the transgender plaintiffs who are going to court as part of the suit:
Good. The ACLU is correct in the lawsuit.
Cassandra Leigh Williamson
Veteran: USN, USMC, Naval Academy grad (1984), parent, grandparent, serial entrepreneur, Transgender woman.
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