Going to the DMV is already a special sort of Hell without employees inventing new ways to make the whole experience even worse. But Amber Yust had to deal with more than just long lines, a stuffy waiting room, and an endless request for more paperwork. She had to deal with serious transphobia. And it didn’t stop at the DMV doors: it followed her home.
Jordan Rubenstein reports on the Gay Rights blog that Yust, a transgender woman, was getting her name changed on her driver’s license in a San Francisco DMV. Actually, that official part of the visit went pretty smoothly: she came prepared with a court order for the change, and went home with her shiny new license.
Soon after, she received a letter at her home. It contained all the typical hateful rhetoric: that she was going to Hell (one similar to the DMV?), that she was an abominated, that she had done an evil thing. The letter was festively decorated with Biblical quotes being used to back up the vocal transphobia.
The DMV employee who helped Yust committed a severe breach of security by taking the woman’s private information and used it to send a harassing and hate-filled letter. People shouldn’t have to fear that providing personal information to government employees will give somebody the power to harass and threaten them.
Photo credit: Chris Harrison
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