Norton, Frost Introduce Bill to Remove Gender Designation Requirement from REAL ID Act During Pride Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, during Pride Month, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) introduced a bill to remove the requirement from the REAL ID Act that compliant licenses include a gender designation. The bill instead would leave the decision to the states, and, if a state chooses to require a gender designation, a person would be able to change the designation by self-attestation.

"This is an important bill for equality, especially for transgender and nonbinary Americans," Norton said. "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 designations so as to express their identity. I believe this bill strikes the middle ground, while showing Congress' support for LGBTQ+ individuals."

"Coming from a state like Florida, where LGBTQ+ folks have seen their identity and very existence targeted day in and day out, I am proud to fight alongside Congresswoman Norton to help ensure trans and nonbinary person's licenses can reflect who they truly are," Frost said. "This is about showing support and solidarity with a community that has already had to overcome so much to simply live in the light. Enshrining into law that an ID will not be the next obstacle we place in front of our LGTQ+ neighbors is the least we can do."

Norton's introductory statement follows.

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on

the Introduction of the REAL ID Gender Requirement Reform Act

June 27, 2024

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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