News Release
For Immediate Release:  August 31, 2010
Contact:  Diane Gramley  1.814.271.9078 or
1.814.437.5355

PennDOT Wrong to Change Gender Markers on Drivers’ Licenses

(Harrisburg) – The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide traditional values group has contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) with specific questions about its decision to allow men and women who have not undergone sex reassignment surgery to now identify as the sex of their choice on driver’s licenses and state issued identification cards.

“Last week several stories appeared – predominately on homosexual/transgender news outlets and blogs that PennDOT has changed its policy concerning those sexually confused individuals who believe they were born in the wrong body.  It’s interesting that, as of this writing, the AFA of PA has been unable to find a PennDOT news release on their site.   Are they trying to keep this story hush hush?” questioned Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.

The AFA of PA letter to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler included the following:

  • So, if an unsuspecting woman finds a man who thinks he is a woman standing naked next to her in the shower area of a health club, as occurred to a Western Michigan University nursing professor last year and the woman protests, he can produce his official state-issued driver’s license to show that he’s legally recognized by the state of Pennsylvania as a female.  This professor writes, “I assumed privacy when I used the restroom, showered and dressed there.  Under deceptive circumstances, he invaded the privacy of many women in that locker room. I felt violated and worried about maintaining my dignity and privacy. Some nights, I awoke with dreams that a man was in my house. It was equally disturbing to my husband who wanted to protect me from this violation.”
  • This is a threat to the health of women and girls who feel violated by having a man in a restroom, locker room or shower facility.
  • Will any of those sexually confused individuals seeking a change in their driver’s license be designated sex offenders? If so, how will they be designated on the Sex Offender Registry?
  • If a man who thinks he is a woman is found guilty of a crime and must face a prison sentence, which prison is he to be sent to – a men’s or women’s prison?  How does his driver’s license identify him?

“As we noted in the letter to PennDOT – citizens should at minimum be able to trust their state government to tell them the truth. This is a fundamental honesty-in-government issue.  With last week’s outrageous decision, businesses and Pennsylvania citizens cannot trust PennDot to even be honest about the sex of an applicant for a drivers’ license or state ID card.  The AFA of PA has asked PennDOT to rescind this dangerous policy change,” further commented Gramley.

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