Two top DeSantis staffers praised Florida's "dedicated" Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Tuesday for canceling the driver's license of a transgender person who "improperly changed" the ID's sex marker from male to female.
The individual, who runs a popular Tiktok account called Jamesissmiling, had their license canceled and replaced by the Florida DMV just 17 days after James posted a now-deleted one-minute and 28-second long video revealing the legal "loophole" that allowed James to change their ID sex marker.
James concluded the video, now circulating within conservative circles, by telling Gov. Ron DeSantis to "suck my trans d**k."
"[The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles] FLHSMV canceled his license and sent him a corrected one that says 'male,'" DeSantis' press secretary Jeremy Redfern posted to social media Tuesday evening. "That’s some dedicated service. He should thank them."
DeSantis' communications director Bryan Griffin agreed, posting to X, "Florida operates on truth, and Florida driver's licenses will only reflect an individual's true sex."
In a letter dated Jan. 6, the motor vehicle department said it had canceled the influencer's license and would reissue a "corrected" ID. The department also said the influencer's "loophole" tactics may be illegal because Florida licenses can only be replaced if the original has been lost or stolen and because James may have "knowingly made a false statement" in presenting their sex as "female" to the DMV.
"The replacement license issued to you on December 20, 2024, which improperly changed the sex identifier from male to female, should not have been issued because such a change was not permitted by law," the letter reads. "The Department will conduct an audit to determine whether similar errors have been made previously."
How did we get here?
FLHSMV last January sent out a memo explaining that transgender residents will no longer be able to change the listed gender on their driver's license, ABC reported. The memo said that those who put a gender identity that does not match their biological sex could be subject to "criminal and civil penalties," which may include "revocation of his or her driver's license."
The department equated "gender" and "sex"—terms that trans activists and the National Institute of Health have defined separately, with gender being a "social" construct and sex being "biological." In Florida statute, "sex" is the title put on driver's licenses.
In an email to The Floridian, FLHSMV communications director Molly Best wrote that the department "fully" supports the governor's team's online backing, explaining, "We fully support the governor's direction in ensuring Florida operates on truth."
TikTok influencer James, who has over 500K followers, posted their now-deleted video on Dec. 20 to explain to Floridians how to change their sex on IDs, even though "you're not even supposed to be able to do this in this state."
"Ron DeSantis would be screaming right now if he knew about this. This little license now says female on it!" The influencer said. "Here's the loophole: if you're replacing your driver's license, not renewing it, but replacing it because you 'lost it', they have to take all of your information from what they consider a primary document."
James explained that because a passport is a primary document, and because under federal law Americans can change the gender marker on their passports, "Loophole! You can self-identify on your Florida fucking driver's license."
"Ron DeSantis, you can suck my trans d**k," concluded James, who goes by they/she pronouns.
In the 2024 legislative session, Republican state Rep. Doug Bankson sponsored a bill that would have codified only "sex," not "gender," printed onto Floridians' IDs. The bill failed before reaching the floor.
