Arkansas Supreme Court Upholds Controversial ID Rule
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court has reinstated a contentious agency rule that prohibits state residents from using “X” as a gender marker on driver’s licenses or identification cards. In a brief order issued Monday, justices stayed a lower court ruling that had temporarily blocked the enforcement of the new regulations, which also complicate the process for transgender individuals to update their gender on state-issued IDs.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) had announced in March its decision to rescind a practice from 2010 that allowed for non-binary identification. According to the agency, this earlier practice was inconsistent with state law and lacked proper legislative approval. The recent rule change aligns Arkansas with a growing trend among Republican-led states to legally define gender as strictly binary, a move critics argue undermines the recognition of transgender and non-binary individuals as well as the rights of intersex people.
Attorney General Tim Griffin praised the Supreme Court’s decision, asserting it allows the DFA to ensure identification rules conform to state law. Conversely, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has criticized the rule, claiming it could cause significant harm to transgender and non-binary residents. ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson emphasized that the elimination of the “X” marker option forces individuals into a gender designation that may not accurately reflect their identity, potentially leading to discrimination and distress.
While the state has begun the process of adopting a permanent rule in line with these new policies, all previously issued licenses and IDs featuring the “X” designation will remain valid until their expiration. Currently, out of Arkansas’s more than 2.6 million active driver’s licenses, 387 carry the “X” marker, with a similar count for state IDs.
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