MA RMV head defends new policy of 'transgender' drivers licenses. Tells radio show it's "concurrent with current medical practices."

Bizarre statements by RMV head Rachel Kaprielian that need to be confronted

March 18, 2009

On February 20, 2009, Rachel Kaprielian, the head of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) appeared as a guest on Nightside with Dan Rae, a nightly radio talk show on WBZ radio 1030 AM. Among other things, she was asked about her new policy of allowing transgender drivers licenses.

Kaprielian told the radio listeners the RMV now simply requires "the proof from a medical provider that the person has lived as that gender for a year, because that is concurrent with current medical practices and current laws of the Commonwealth". She went on to say that "the question is sort of what defines gender, and the medical community has said loudly and resoundingly it's often something other than the old ways, the indices."

Listen to radio program clip (1 min. 54 sec.)

Here's transcript of the exchange:

DAN REA: There’s an email question here. Let me see if I can get to this one. This is from Ed in Natick: “I would like to ask Rachel Kaprielian how she could reduce restrictions on gender identification requirements . . .”

KAPRIELIAN: Oh. OK.

DAN REA: “. . . to get a state certified ID drivers license that allows a person to pick a gender based on the gender the individual considers himself or herself to be.” What’s that all about?

KAPRIELIAN: Well, I’m not sure exactly how he posed the question. What we’re doing, or what I should be doing. One of the things that we do with the RMV is we change with new information, and currently we have revised that policy of what’s called a transgender license, it’s very obviously a limited number of individuals who are looking to change their gender designation. We used to require the reassignment surgery. And now it’s the proof from a medical provider that the person has lived as that gender for a year, because that is concurrent with current medical practices and current laws of the Commonwealth.

DAN REA: Ed is writing here, “The only restriction to personal preference and the gender confusion being it needs to be backed up by a medical signoff." His question is, "How can I prevent my 17-year-old daughter from having her privacy invaded by a pervert using this new policy to their advantage, and showing up in the ladies room or locker room." So I guess what he’s trying to say here is that . . .

KAPRIELIAN: What does that have to do with a person’s license is my next question to that. You know, I mean, that’s a terrible incident he’s describing but what does that have to do with a person’s license?

DAN REA: Well, I guess he’s concerned about identification. He talks about homeland security here and all of this. I’ll look at that a little bit later.

KAPRIELIAN: None of that’s really relevant. I mean, the question is sort of what defines gender, and the medical community has said loudly and resoundingly it’s often something other than, you know. . .

DAN REA: The indices.

KAPRIELIAN: The old ways.

DAN REA: Yeah, the old ways.

KAPRIELIAN: The indices, right.

DAN REA: OK, great. Fair enough. We won’t go there. It’s a family show.

WBZ talk-show host Dan Rae

RMV head Rachel Kaprielian

Not telling the truth

Unfortunately, Kaprielian is not telling the truth:

(1) Her reference to "current medical practice" is blatantly misleading. The American Psychiatric Association classifies individuals with transgender issues as having a condition called "gender identity disorder", a significant psychiatric disorder.

(2) There are no "current laws of the Commonwealth" that deal with gender identity (although they are attempting again to pass one this year). In fact, the term "gender identity" is not even officially defined. (Even "sexual orientation" is left undefined in Massachusetts and even federal law.)

And (3) the official RMV gender-change form mentions no requirement that the person has lived as that gender "for a year" - only that the person "can reasonably be expected to continue as such for the foreseeable future".

But more startlingly, for Kaprielian to state that "the medical community has said loudly and resoundingly" that there a new understanding of "what defines gender" is simply a lie. That is nothing more than homosexual propaganda.