Ohio just made it far harder for transgender residents to get an ID that matches who they are — and the state did it overnight, without warning anyone.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles quietly discontinued the form that let people update the gender marker on their driver's license or state ID. Now, before someone can make that change, they must first update their birth certificate, a legal step that isn't within reach for everyone. The shift traces back to budget language Governor Mike DeWine signed into law in June 2026 — language that the law itself uses to describe gender identity as "disconnected from biological reality," and that refuses to recognize transgender or nonbinary people on any state-issued ID.

This is bigger than paperwork. A driver's license is what people use to vote, open a bank account, board a plane, and prove who they are every day. When an ID doesn't match how someone lives and looks, it can mean denied access at the polls and everywhere else identification gets checked.

Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, called the change "a deliberate attempt at voter suppression and an intentional decision to make life harder for transgender Ohioans while hoping no one notices until it is too late."

Governor DeWine and Ohio BMV Registrar Charles Norman have the power to reverse this policy right now and restore the prior process for updating gender markers on state IDs. No one should lose their right to accurate identification, or their voice at the ballot box, because of a rule buried in a budget bill with zero public notice.

Sign the petition to demand Ohio restore transgender residents' access to accurate ID before more voters are shut out.