Texas AG Paxton Declares Court Orders "Void," Orders Gender Markers Reverted For Trans People
The Texas Attorney General says that all drivers licenses and birth certificates must be reverted for trans people
In a letter to Texas Department of Public Safety Director Colonel Freeman F. Martin, Attorney General Ken Paxton unilaterally declared that court orders granting gender marker changes on Texas birth certificates or driver's licenses are null and void. Paxton’s directive, issued without a court ruling backing it, effectively positions him as the sole arbiter on the matter, bypassing Texas’ judicial system entirely and usurping its power. He further ordered that all previously amended documents be "immediately corrected," asserting that the court orders were issued without legal authority.
“The ‘judicial power’ endowed to district courts does not countenance ex parte orders directing state agencies to amend a person’s biological sex on driver’s licenses or birth certificates. The underlying proceedings are coram non judice, and the resulting orders are void. State agencies must immediately correct any unlawfully altered driver’s licenses or birth certificates that were changed pursuant to such orders,” states Paxton’s letter.
Paxton offers a convoluted rationale for his directive, arguing that Texas courts lack "statutory authority" to grant gender marker changes and that the state holds "sovereign immunity" over such matters. He further claims that courts acted "unreasonably" in allowing these changes, relying on a historically dubious assertion that gender identity did not exist in 1936. "It is unreasonable to suggest that the original public meaning of ‘sex,’ in 1936, somehow included a psycho-social concept that had not yet been invented," he wrote, falsely implying that conceptions of gender beyond reproductive roles were absent from historical discourse. To justify this, he cites contemporary definitions from that era, which he claims defined sex strictly in terms of biological reproduction.
Paxton’s claim is demonstrably false. By 1936, the German Institute of Sexology had already been looted by the Nazis, its books burned precisely because it researched gender identity and facilitated gender transition treatments. Transgender people had long existed in the United States as well—Lucy Hicks Anderson transitioned in the late 1800s in California, and Albert Cashier lived as a man during the Civil War and decades afterwards. Beyond the U.S., transgender identities have been documented across cultures for millennia, further undermining Paxton’s assertion that the concept did not exist before the mid-20th century.
Paxton’s directive is likely to have immediate and far-reaching consequences for transgender Texans, particularly those who have already updated their birth certificates or driver’s licenses. Because the order applies retroactively, the state may begin voiding previously issued documents and replacing them with ones that reflect an individual’s assigned sex at birth. The Texas Department of Public Safety had already been preparing for such a move—late last year, the agency sent a letter to Paxton asking whether it could "voluntarily correct its own introduction of inaccurate sex information" on licenses issued under court orders. Paxton’s response now appears to be an unequivocal “yes.”
How the state would even implement such reversions remains unclear. Previous efforts to compile a list of transgender individuals from state databases hit a dead end, as officials found it impossible to distinguish between those who changed gender markers for transgender-related reasons and those who did so for other purposes. However, Texas may look to Florida as a model—officials there have recently begun voiding previously issued licenses and reverting transgender residents' gender markers without consent. A similar approach could emerge for Texas driver’s licenses. Reversing birth certificates, however, presents additional logistical hurdles. Unlike licenses, which the state can invalidate and require renewal, birth certificates are more permanent records, and tracking down all Texas-born individuals who have updated theirs—especially those who now live out of state—could prove difficult.
While the reversion of transgender people's legal documents is alarming in itself, Paxton's opinion raises an even broader concern: his assertion that the power to determine what is constitutional—and what falls within a court’s jurisdiction—rests with him, not with the judiciary. This brazen disregard for court rulings is not an isolated incident; it reflects a growing trend among Republican officials, from state attorneys general to governors and even the presidency. The precedent being set is clear: legal authority is only respected when it serves their agenda. As Republicans continue to consolidate power at the expense of transgender people, the broader erosion of judicial authority should serve as a warning—one that extends far beyond this single policy fight.
You can view the Paxton letter here:
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An Executive branch which usurps the power of the Legislature, or of the Judiciary, is a dictatorship. Period. Full stop.
Horrific. They aren’t even hiding their hate, but wallowing in it like the pig f&@kers they really are.