Proposal to require amended birth certificate before changing gender marker on ID draws intense opposition in committee hearing

Representative Brandon Phelps presented House Bill 13 62 to the committee and said the bill "requires that a person seeking to obtain a driver's license, a non‑driver's license or an instructional permit designating a *** other than the applicants biological *** assigned at birth for that person to provide an amended birth certificate that reflects the *** designation being requested."

Sponsor and several committee members framed the proposal as a way to align official state-issued documents so a person's birth certificate and a driver's license do not conflict. Representative Phelps and some committee members referenced Department of Revenue processes and recent internal changes to documentation and the removal of an earlier administrative form (form 5532) used to support gender-marker changes; the sponsor said the bill would shift the evidentiary standard to amended birth-certificate documentation obtained via court order or other processes already codified in statute.

The hearing produced extensive testimony in opposition from transgender Missourians and civil-rights groups. Witness Danny Lecio (PROMO) said the measure "would require someone to amend their birth certificate before they can update their gender marker on their Missouri driver's license" and added that for people born in states that no longer permit birth-certificate changes, the bill would permanently block access to an accurate Missouri ID. The ACLU of Missouri, Metro Trans Umbrella groups, legal-aid providers and multiple individual witnesses described the measure as an unnecessary barrier that would place at-risk Missourians in daily danger. ACLU witness Jonathan Schmidt called the process "onerous, time consuming, and potentially expensive" and emphasized that many transgender or nonbinary people do not have surgical records or cannot obtain amended birth certificates in some jurisdictions.

Witnesses described concrete practical and safety impacts: a pro bono legal volunteer estimated court costs for an adult to obtain a Missouri birth-certificate amendment between roughly $350 and $800 (testimony described cost ranges and barrier to fee waivers); other witnesses cited examples of being harassed, stopped at airports or denied services because their ID did not match how they present. Danny Lecio, a trans man, testified: "It is not just inconvenient, it is dangerous." Several witnesses who are veterans and advocates noted that a significant share of transgender Americans are veterans and said the bill would harm people who have served.

Representative Phelps and some committee members argued the bill would put the onus on courts to amend the birth certificate and would relieve front-line license-bureau staff of making case-by-case determinations about what constitutes sufficient documentation. Committee members pressed the sponsor on how department policy had changed and on whether the bill duplicates existing statute (Representative Phelps cited Missouri statute 193.215 as the process to amend a birth certificate by court order).

The transcript records an extended hearing with numerous witnesses; the committee concluded public testimony that night. No committee vote on House Bill 13 62 is recorded in the transcript.