Driver’s License
Driver’s license policies govern the process by which a person can change the gender marker on their driver’s license. Many transgender people choose to update the gender marker on their identity documents so that it matches their gender identity. Accurate and consistent gender markers on identity documents help transgender people gain access to public spaces and resources, as well as dramatically reducing the risk that they will face violence, discrimination, or harassment. Additionally, states may allow individuals to identify as something other than male or female on their driver’s licenses. The ease of the process to change gender markers is independent of how many gender options (i.e., male, female, nonbinary) are available.
However, many states have not yet modernized their policy or process, making it significantly challenging for transgender people to access identification that matches their gender identity and protects their safety. This map examines the variation in state policies regarding both the process of changing one’s gender marker, as well as the gender marker options available in a given state. This map’s categories were developed in conversation with the Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) and based on their driver’s license process grading system, available here.
*NOTES (and click the “Citations & More Information” beneath the map legend for more info about every state):
– In Idaho, the state requires an amended birth certificate in order to update a driver’s license, but following a court ruling in January 2026, the state no longer allows updates to a birth certificate. This creates a de facto ban on driver’s license changes for anyone who did not already have an amended birth certificate.
See also MAP’s 2022 report The ID Divide: How Barriers to ID Impact Different Communities and Affect Everyone, detailing the ways that barriers to obtaining an accurate ID significantly impact people’s ability to move through their daily lives and how these obstacles harm specific communities, as well as our related Fact Sheet: Identity Documents & Transgender and Nonbinary Communities (2022).
Recommended citation for this set of maps:
Movement Advancement Project. 2026. “Equality Maps: Identity Document Laws and Policies.” https://mapresearch.org/equality-map/identity-document-laws-and-policies/. Data as of June 12, 2026.
Recommended citation for this specific map:
Movement Advancement Project. 2026. “Equality Maps: Gender Markers on Drivers Licenses.” https://mapresearch.org/equality-map/identity-document-laws-and-policies/#drivers-license. Data as of June 12, 2026.
Percent of Transgender Population Covered by Laws
*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the transgender population (ages 18+) living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of transgender people in the U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here. Population estimates are from The Williams Institute.
