Check out Gwendolyn Ann Smith’s opinion piece on HR 418 (the Real ID Act) and how it will affect her life.

George W. Bush has signed a law that is a time bomb for me as a transgender woman. In a worst-case scenario, this one law could strip away my entire identity.

The measure in question is the so-called Real ID Act (HR 418). This bill contains three distinct parts. It alters U.S. asylum laws as related to potential terrorists, sets aside the rule of law to expedite the construction of a border fence between California and Mexico and creates federal regulations and standards for state driver’s licenses and identification cards.

This passed through the United States Senate only — thanks to the Act being tacked onto a supplemental military spending bill that was apparently too important not to vote for. If it were not an attachment, it may have been far harder to get this piece of legislation through Congress.

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