The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will no longer accept Form 2369, also known as the Declaration of Gender Change form, as a valid method of changing the gender marker on a driver’s license. The change has complicated gender affirming care for transgender people across Ohio.
However, the policy change does not affect the process to alter the name on a driver’s license.
According to Dwayne Steward, CEO and executive director of Equality Ohio, now that the Declaration of Gender Change form is no longer an option, an amended birth certificate is required.
“Now they’re saying you have to present a birth certificate that has the correct gender marker in order to change the marker on your ID, which is a much longer, more laborious process, and in some cases, in some parts of the state, it’s actually illegal,” Steward said.
In a 2024 Ohio Supreme Court Case, justices could not conclude the legality of sex changes on birth certificates, leaving the issue up to the jurisdiction of the county where a sex change is requested.
Jamie Miller, the programs and organizing manager of the United Campus Ministries in Athens, used the Declaration of Gender Change form to change his own gender marker years ago. The form required a substantial amount of paperwork from a physician and a therapist.
“It was already arduous and difficult before putting more red tape on it,” Miller said. “The system isn't set up to accommodate for people, even after you follow all of the legal, you know, hoops that they want you to jump through.”
Despite this, many Ohio residents who see amending these documents as a personal necessity will likely try to do so, according to Miller.
“Gender affirming care is life-saving care, no doubt about that,” Miller said. “And when you have received life-changing care, to have legal documentation that does not represent the person who you are, that can put you in a ton of trouble.”
In addition to putting transgender people under more scrutiny from voter registration or airport security when they must provide their ID, having a driver’s license that does not match their perceived gender can reveal their transgender identity against their will, possibly putting them in danger.
Steward said Equality Ohio does not know if the policy change will affect people who have already used the form to change their marker in the past, but they have a team of lawyers researching it. The organization is also working with the American Civil Liberties Union, a progressive legal organization, to understand how the public will be affected further.
Lindsey Bohrer, assistant director of communications for the BMV, responded to a request for comment via email. Bohrer said the Declaration of Gender Change form was removed because it was not compatible with Ohio state law.
“The BMV will record the sex that is stated on an individual’s birth certificate or passport as the sex that will be reflected on the Ohio driver's license or ID card,” Bohrer said in an email.
Bohrer specified the form did not comply with the “sex recognition policy” in Section 9.05 of the Ohio Revised Code. The section was added in 2025 with House Bill 96, the state budget bill. It clearly defined sex as either male or female assigned at birth, unrelated to their gender identification.
The public announcement of the BMV’s policy change came from advocacy groups Equality Ohio and Trans Ohio, which found out about the change the day before they announced it.
Steward said he is unsure why the BMV is incorporating the policy change now, almost a year after House Bill 96 was enacted.
“As a member of the trans community, we’re hit with an onslaught of anti-trans legislation on a daily basis,” Miller said. “So, frankly, I would love to be able to say it’s shocking … but I think that there’s an amount of media fatigue that hits a person.”
Miller and Steward both expressed they hope it will one day be easier to be a trans person living in Ohio.
“We can think about collective liberation as something that is achievable when we work together,” Miller said. “So, I would imbue a sense of hope because I just see it as not an inevitability, but something that we have to continue working for.”
Steward encouraged anyone seeking assistance with changing their birth certificate to sign up for advice from Equality Ohio’s legal clinic.
