3/15/25

Paxton's Transgender Driver's license "opinion" about to be codified into law

Texas AG Ken Paxton issued an opinion on March 14, 2025 instructing state agencies to retroactively revert gender markers on drivers' licenses, state IDs and birth certificates to that of the individual's sex at birth.

The 19-page opinion was issued after DPS stopped accepting Court Ordered Gender Updates For Driver Licenses and pursuant to a letter sent by then Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw to Ken Paxton asking if the DPS had the authority to ignore court orders and revert driver licenses to the sex they were before they were changed.

The summary of Paxton's March 14, 2025 opinion.

As everyone knows Paxton has the authority to enforce the law but he can not make or break laws. However, a bill passed through Senate committee on March 13, 2025, would make Paxton's opinion align with law.

Senator Middleton introduced SB406 qualifying its existence with the hundreds of anti-trans bills introduced this year in Texas and Trump's genocidal intentions, while stating that the bill "is not about restricting anyone's personal expression," alluding to 120,000 transgender Texans whose lives would be utterly destroyed by SB406.

SB406 "Relating to the required inclusion of a person's sex on a birth certificate and prohibited change of sex on the birth certificate of certain persons" passed 9-0 through committee and is bound for a floor vote.
It's a well-researched, professionally written bill that creates an exemption for intersex people. And tragically it would create the essential legislative foundation for Paxton's legal war on transgender people.

3/14/25

One million Massachusetts Residents now Live in Transgender Sanctuary Cities

Councilor-at-Large Julia Mejia

The Boston City Council voted 12-1 to pass a resolution Wednesday declaring it a Transgender Sanctuary City, making it the largest protected city in the Bay State.

Councilor-at-Large Julia Mejia and District 9 Councilor Liz Breadon called on Boston to adopt the measure supporting transgender people, pointing to what they see as harmful rhetoric coming from President Donald Trump and the White House, WBTS' Matt Prichard reports

The resolution says, in part, that Boston has "a specific commitment to protecting transgender and gender-diverse individuals. Taxpayer-funded agencies shall not comply with federal efforts to strip resources that safeguard their rights. Boston will not cooperate with federal or state policies that harm transgender and gender-diverse people and remains committed to ensuring their access to healthcare, housing, education, and employment without fear or discrimination."

Mejia and Breadon acknowledged that the resolution is symbolic and nonbinding, but Mejia said it is a critical first step and an "opportunity to set the groundwork for the legislation."

Last month, the Worcester city council voted overwhelmingly to become a transgender sanctuary city. Council members hope that the legislature takes notice and enacts laws making all of Massachusetts safe for LGBTQI people. Between Cambridge, Northampton, Boston, and Worcester, just shy of a million people are now living in transgender sanctuary cities.