I haven’t started the process of changing my name and gender marker on any of my documents yet. Between having my birth certificate from a very anti-trans state, and now the Supreme Court allowing the government to deny us changing our gender markers on passports, is there even a point in me trying to change my documents? I feel like, best case scenario I have a mix of updated and out-of-date documents, which feels like it would just create more confusion and difficulty.
Depends on your current and birth state. Some states still allow gender marker changes without evidence of surgery or clerical error. My birth state required surgery and I recently got that, so I’m working on changing mine. Problem will be Social Security which now doesn’t allow changes under any circumstances and Passport which may or may not use the SSA inconsistency to deny changes or invalidate the passport altogether as fraudulent. We’ll just have to wait and see how it’s implemented now that it’s no longer allowed without birth certificate changes. I’m not hopeful, but as long as my state continues to allow changes for the enhanced driver’s license/real ID, at least I’ll be able to travel domestically for now.
Social security stopped allowing changes when trump. They allowed it before and presumably will again sometime after.
From my understanding social security gender is the official gender on federal documents. And there will be issues if you have mismatched genders on federal documents.
EDLs are issued by states, the realid law leaves it to the states to determine what info is correct. Real states will issue EDLs with correct gender markers.
I guess it depends on a lot. At some point I started to pass and was living life as a woman. People started to have a hard time believing I could be trans or that I could be the same person as my deadname. At that point, having a male gender marker on my ID was a liability and a problem - it was going to create issues, people would maybe think it was a stolen ID, etc.
So I would say you should take seriously the need to update your name and documents - and update as many as you can.
Here’s a resource that might be helpful:
https://transequality.org/resources/name-and-gender-marker-change-101
I lived in one of the most anti-trans states in the U.S. when I transitioned. I was still able to file a name change petition in the courts, went to a hearing and answered some simple questions (basically whether I was changing my name to avoid creditors or debt, whether I had a criminal record, etc.), then once I had the court order, I went through the process of updating my name and gender marker on my documents. I think I actually started with my passport, I simply renewed it and back then you could just select any gender marker.
Once I had the passport it was easier to update all the other documents, often the passport with my legal name and gender was accepted as proof.
Yeah, I definitely don’t want to have a male gender marker anywhere. And fortunately the state I currently live in handles changing names and gender markers on driver licenses pretty well.
But it feels like my options are 1) update nothing and be outed any time I have to present ID, or 2) update everything I can, but then possibly have more trouble leaving and entering the country, or have people think I’m stealing my own identity, etc, due to the incongruity with the stuff I can’t update.
Maybe it would be better to just wait until I pass better, and hopefully by the time I get around to my passport we have a better government?
I wouldn’t wait, these updates can take months or longer to happen, if anything I would say you’re late. If you don’t want the male gender marker anywhere, then do everything you can to start removing it.
Also, I wouldn’t worry about leaving or entering the country based on gender marker alone - make sure you have extra copies of your court ordered name change (my court listed gender change as the reason), and this will usually be enough whenever questions start to arise - it unilaterally proves you were your deadname.
Also, it’s possible that if the ship rights itself politically, that in a matter of a few years you will be allowed to self-identify gender markers again.
EDIT:
here are the places I updated name and/or gender:
- social security
- passport
- birth certificate
- driver’s license (Real ID)
- voter registration
- marriage license
- email address
- bank & other financial institutions (credit card company, etc.)
- employer
- on school transcripts (high school, college, etc.)
- credit bureaus: Equifax, etc.
- your house’s utility company
- any property deeds, e.g. to a home or car
- medical doctor
- eye doctor
- insurance companies (medical, auto, etc.)
I would move fast on getting name and gender updated on a Real ID driver’s license, the federal government is already moving to try to deny trans identity for Real ID, so you want to get on that - it will allow you to fly anywhere in the U.S. without requiring a passport that may not have your correct gender marker. Getting a Real ID license with your updated name and gender marker would then allow you to update your name lots of other places, it will be accepted as a legal ID.
Currently I think social security and passports cannot have gender marker updated, but it’s still worth updating the name, and on the passport it can be important to have an accurate photo.
Wow, thank you for the list! That’s going to be really helpful. It feels like a daunting undertaking, but you’re probably right, better to start sooner than later
Edit: Where did you start?/Where should I start? With the name change petition and then drivers license?
yes, get the court ordered name change first, then go for the driver’s license (and if you don’t already have Real ID now is when you would apply for it)
you will need the court order for several places and they don’t always return copies, so I suggest getting many extra official copies (you usually have to pay for those, it’s usually a small fee).
Be prepared with all the necessary documents when you make the name change petition, ask what documents are needed when you go and schedule it at the court.
