Introduction of the Real Id Gender Requirement Reform Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the REAL ID Gender Requirement Reform Act, which would remove the requirement from the REAL ID Act that REAL ID-compliant licenses include gender. Instead, the decision of whether to have gender on a state's REAL-ID-compliant licenses would be left to the states. I am pleased Representative Maxwell Frost is co-leading this bill.

This bill would require states that require gender designation for licenses to allow individuals wishing to change their gender designation on their license to do so through self-attestation. It would also require states that require gender designation on licenses to have a neutral or other designation gender field, in addition to male or female.

Under the REAL ID Act, gender must be included on a license. This can be problematic for transgender or nonbinary individuals. I recognize that some LGBTQ+ individuals do not want gender designations on licenses at all, while others do want gender designation so as to express their identity. I believe this bill strikes the middle ground, while showing Congress' support for LGBTQ+ individuals.

This is an important bill for equality. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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