Congratulations are in order for Miss Benny!
The beauty icon, influencer, and Glamorous star celebrated getting her updated driver's license this week, showing off her updated legal name — Benny Jean Pierce — and gender marker listed as F.
Miss Benny has been in the public eye since she was a young teen and came out as trans in 2023 in the leadup to her Netflix show Glamorous, in which the character she played also came out as trans.
Now, she's been able to update her driver's license to properly reflect who she is.
However, her excitement was dampened by the recent election and her home state of Texas' current anti-trans policies.
Instagram (@missbenny)
"It's either a blip of ironic cruelty or an attempt at silver lining that I finally received this in my mailbox today of all days after what has been a four-month exhausting and expensive process (one that is left partially incomplete because of the ongoing illegal and unjust denial of court orders that my home state of Texas is getting away with)," Miss Benny wrote in a post on her Instagram stories.
"I resent that I must share this moment with the feelings I'm having today. But this alone is at least reminding me if not hopeful, to at least stay in motion."
The denial of court orders that Miss Benny is talking about refers to a move the state of Texas made in August to remove trans people's ability to change their name on legal documents like birth certificates.
The Texas Law Library website says "as of August 20, 2024, the Texas Department of Public Safety no longer accepts court orders that change the sex of an individual or 'combined' orders that issue a name change and a gender marker change in the same document."
"In addition, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services no longer has a process for changing sex on a birth certificate, except for errors or inaccuracies," the site continues. "They also do not list a process for changing the sex of an adult. This means that you may not be able to change the gender marker on your Texas birth certificate, even with a valid court order."
Under a Trump presidency, it is unlikely that these new anti-trans regulations will be challenged, and will instead be bolstered.
