Bills to Interfere with the Identity Documents of Transgender People
Two bills are attacks on the dignity and humanity of transgender South Carolinians, inserting the legislature into administrative processes that are already working effectively for LGBTQ+ people in the state.
S276 amounts to a broad anti-transgender erasure bill. It would require South Carolina to recognize a person’s sex at birth as their gender for the purpose of all state laws; implications include not being able to change driver’s license gender markers and having to apply for public programs such as SNAP and Medicaid with a gender marker that does not match who you are. This is in direct conflict with SCOTUS precedent in Bostock and federal policy that allows self-attestation on passports.
S364 complicates the process for transgender people changing the gender marker on their birth certificate, placing onerous new restrictions and requiring people to clear additional hurdles in order to acquire important identity documents.