How Republicans are slowly but surely excluding trans people from the US presidential election
It’s that time of the week again! Welcome back to our weekly recaps, where we inform you about the biggest stories relating to the 2024 US Presidential election. And with less than six weeks left till 5 November 2024—when we’ll finally find out who will emerge as the victor from the close race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump—we’re now turning our spotlight onto the voters. This recap is going to be all about Republican-led states and how they are making it increasingly difficult for trans people to vote in the upcoming election.
In March this year, Republican and Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an emergency order eliminating the option to use an “X” gender marker, instead of male or female, on state-issued driver’s licences and identification cards.
The “X” option had been in place for 14 years and has been a reliable aid for trans, nonbinary and intersex people in the state of Arkansas.
Sanders, who last year signed an executive order banning gender-neutral terms from state documents, called the choice “common sense,” as reported by the Associated Press.
Yet, the order will result in a bureaucratic burden for all those who have indicated their gender as X. Moreover, it will force many trans people to provide an amended birth certificate with a new gender marker. This process entails either getting a court order and presenting medical documentation of surgery or listing the sex they’ve been assigned at birth.
In other words, this is an incredibly transphobic policy that only assigns value to the gender an individual identifies with once they’ve taken sufficient steps to “pass” medically, something that is both time-consuming and incredibly expensive, thus not possible or indeed desirable for all trans people.
Arkansas is one of at least five states, including Florida, Montana and Texas, to enact policies this year that bar trans and nonbinary people from updating the gender marker on identification documents.
it really shouldn't be understated that trans people in Texas, who make up less than a percentage point of the states population, are now barred from having accurate documentation that you need to exist in society
— gwen howerton 👻🎃🗡️ (@kissphoria) September 4, 2024
That voter ID requirement will also block a LOT of trans people from voting. Getting appropriate ID as a trans person can be so fucking hard. And that's not even taking into account the financial side of it.
— should be writing not scrolling (@itsjacksonbbz) May 10, 2021
Missouri quietly also added its own requirements for individuals to show documentation for “proof of full transition” from a surgeon or to get other medical documentation, emphasising how the war on trans people in the US is intensifying.
Policies like these could pose barriers to employment, banking and housing, according to experts. Moreover, in the short-term, they could also present a significant challenge for trans people as they try to vote in November in one of the most important elections the US has ever seen.
About 210,800 eligible transgender voters who live in states with voter ID requirements do not have an ID that reflects their correct gender showed a new estimate from the LGBTQIA+ policy research centre the Williams Institute.
Conservatives have long championed voter ID policies as a way to weed out possible election fraud, even though research clearly outlines that those rates are exceptionally low. In practice, voting rights specialists say, these policies deter low-income people, people of colour and trans people from voting.
Since 2020, Republican-led states have enacted stricter requirements for voters, and 36 states have some sort of voter ID law. According to the Williams Institute, obstacles for trans people voting have been identified in the 36 states that have voter ID laws, especially the 33 voter ID states that conduct their elections primarily in person.
“Transgender people of colour, young adults, students, and those with low incomes or disabilities are more likely to not have accurate IDs for voting,” the organisation stated, highlighting how some of the most vulnerable people in US society will be affected by these policies.
About 825,100 trans individuals are eligible to vote in the 2024 election so the 210,800 whose votes might be at risk, represent a significant dent in the voting block.
