1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to protect transgender residents from having their legally obtained identity documents revoked. Across the country, state attorneys general and agencies are systematically compiling lists of transgender people and laying groundwork to declare their IDs and birth certificates "falsified records." Multiple states are now holding transgender people's birth certificate amendment requests without processing them and forwarding requests to attorneys general for review. State health departments have internally flagged birth certificates amended for gender identity reasons, creating filterable databases. Motor vehicle departments have similarly flagged all gender marker changes on driver's licenses. These agencies can now produce comprehensive lists of transgender residents who changed their documents. State attorneys general have intervened in gender change court cases to "protect the integrity" of birth certificates, declaring in legal filings that transgender people are "falsifying records" when they change their documents. Some have filed amicus briefs in federal cases arguing transgender people don't deserve accurate IDs or legal protections. After motor vehicle departments banned gender marker changes, officials have suggested IDs that don't "reflect reality" are "falsified records." The consequences would be severe. Under state laws, making false statements on driver's license applications can constitute felonies carrying years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. Transgender residents obtained their documents legally under existing procedures. We have committed no fraud and deserve protection from retroactive criminalization. I urge you to introduce legislation explicitly protecting the validity of identity documents legally obtained by transgender residents and prohibiting state agencies from compiling lists based on gender marker changes. Transgender people are your constituents who followed the law. We deserve to live without fear of having our legal documents stripped away.