impulsive-astrophile:

saywhat-politics:

Texas Creates Chilling Registry of 16,000 People Who Changed Genders on Their Driver’s Licenses

Hey, uhhhhh, that article title is SUPER misleading.

Here’s a quote from that article that better explains what happened (emphasis mine):

Texas DPS officials ultimately put together a list of 16,466 requests for gender changes on licenses between June 2020 and June of this year. But they struggled to determine the reasons for these requests—some Texans requested to change the gender on their license because they were trans, but others requested the change by mistake, or due to an error on their original license. “Ultimately, our team advised the AG’s office the data requested neither exists nor could be accurately produced. Thus, no data of any kind was provided,” the DPS spokesperson told the Post.

No data was provided! No “registry” was created! Texan trans folks do not have their name on some sort of list because of this request. And this quote explains why.

It is, of course, extremely concerning that the Texas AG made the request in the first place. Texan trans folks should be on alert; and, frankly, trans folks in other red states (primarily) should also be concerned that their states might try to follow suit.

But it’s misinformation to say that a registry was actually created because of this request. No data was provided (and, most importantly, the data doesn’t exist in the place the AG was looking for it), and therefore no registry could have been created. We have to be really, really careful not to create/spread misinformation about issues like this. Misinformation makes it much harder to fight issues effectively, and also spreads disproportionate panic.