Ohio BMV Ends Form for Gender Marker Changes on Licenses

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced that it will no longer accept Form 2369, the document previously used by transgender Ohioans to change the gender marker on driver’s licenses and state IDs. Under the new rule, gender markers can be altered only when the holder presents an updated birth certificate or passport. A BMV spokesperson confirmed the agency’s stance but declined to specify the exact date the policy took effect.

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The shift follows an amendment to state law that defines Ohio as recognizing only two sexes. Lawmakers added this language to the state budget that Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law last year. While the revised statute restricts the BMV’s form, it does not affect the ability of transgender residents to change gender markers on birth certificates, which remains possible in at least eight Ohio counties. The same amendment leaves legal name-change procedures at the BMV unchanged.

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The BMV’s official position is that the agency must align its documentation with the updated statutory definition of sex. Consequently, it will process gender-marker updates solely on the basis of a current birth certificate or passport, as stated by a bureau spokesperson.

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• “Changing a policy this consequential overnight, without warning or transparency, is not an accident – it is a choice,” — Dwayne Steward, the group's executive director

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