TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Mar 2, 2023

The AP reports that Tennessee Republican lawmakers yesterday advanced legislation that would prevent transgender people from changing their driver’s licenses and birth certificates, a move that officials warn could cost the state millions in federal funding. LGBTQ-rights advocates have long argued that having a driver’s license or birth certificate match a person’s identity is not only personally important but also beneficial to avoiding harassment. If enacted, the proposal would define male and female in state law and base people’s legal gender identities on their anatomy at birth. Legislative officials tasked with calculating the fiscal impact of bills have stated that the bill would likely open the state to “civil litigation and could jeopardize federal funding” because it could conflict with federal rules.