Trans News/ Issues

[Berlmeister]

I can't find the article now sadly, but I very recently read that secretary of state hillary clinton has compaigned succesfully and now transfolk no longer need to prove that they actually physically 'match' in any way to the sex/gender posted on their passports. meaning one doesn't have to have any kind of srs or demonstrate that one's gender matches their sexual traits from birth. now that's not written in My words but the words I can recollect from the original article.

[Soon]

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...oakland-county

[Rufusboi]

Originally Posted by Berlmeister

I can't find the article now sadly, but I very recently read that secretary of state hillary clinton has compaigned succesfully and now transfolk no longer need to prove that they actually physically 'match' in any way to the sex/gender posted on their passports. meaning one doesn't have to have any kind of srs or demonstrate that one's gender matches their sexual traits from birth. now that's not written in My words but the words I can recollect from the original article.

Hello- This is true. To obtain a passport you are not required to have surgery. You will need a letter from your doctor stating you are undergoing "treatment" for sexual reassignment. In other words, hormones. The state department does not require anything else in the letter. I recently had my passport changed. I sent them a letter from my surgeon, which they rejected, and had to go to my doctor who prescribes the T for a letter. The state Dept. has this info on their website and states that they do not beleive any government entity should require surgery of a citizen. Its made it easy to get a passport. However, when you go to change things like birth certificates or social security number they want a letter stating surgery has been performed. You also need a male birth certificate when you apply for the passport. So ultimately, you have to have some kind of surgery to get all the docs you need, including the passport.

I have found the best route to follow is birth certificate first, then passport, then SS#, and finally dirver's license. A lot of people don't know that the SS Admin has your gender on file. Driver's license offices now cross check your social security number so in most states (I live in Texas) it is best to have the SS# gender marker changed before applying for the driver's license. They started doing the driver's license, SS# cross checking either after 9/11 or the Patriot Act. A lot of people don't know this is being checked with applying for a driver's license. If you have any questions let me know. I have all docs changed now.

My birth cert is out of Kentucky and they require top surgery only to qualify and this is for MTF or FTM. If you are born in Illinois, they require both top and bottom before they will change the birth cert. So although Clinton has made these changes, which are very welcome, we are still stuck with state requirements for birth certificates and these requirements vary but they almost all require some kind of surgery. I was also told that changing gender on the SS# also varies from office to office and who processes the paperwork. My local office accepted the surgeon's letter and top surgery only. But again, this can vary. We are pretty much subject to state laws and government workers. I got lucky in some areas including the state I was born in. What we need is a federal law and one set of federal guidelines.

Rufus

[Soon]

Originally Posted by Rufusboi

Hello- This is true. To obtain a passport you are not required to have surgery. You will need a letter from your doctor stating you are undergoing "treatment" for sexual reassignment. In other words, hormones. The state department does not require anything else in the letter. I recently had my passport changed. I sent them a letter from my surgeon, which they rejected, and had to go to my doctor who prescribes the T for a letter. The state Dept. has this info on their website and states that they do not beleive any government entity should require surgery of a citizen. Its made it easy to get a passport. However, when you go to change things like birth certificates or social security number they want a letter stating surgery has been performed. You also need a male birth certificate when you apply for the passport. So ultimately, you have to have some kind of surgery to get all the docs you need, including the passport.

I have found the best route to follow is birth certificate first, then passport, then SS#, and finally dirver's license. A lot of people don't know that the SS Admin has your gender on file. Driver's license offices now cross check your social security number so in most states (I live in Texas) it is best to have the SS# gender marker changed before applying for the driver's license. They started doing the driver's license, SS# cross checking either after 9/11 or the Patriot Act. A lot of people don't know this is being checked with applying for a driver's license. If you have any questions let me know. I have all docs changed now.

My birth cert is out of Kentucky and they require top surgery only to qualify and this is for MTF or FTM. If you are born in Illinois, they require both top and bottom before they will change the birth cert. So although Clinton has made these changes, which are very welcome, we are still stuck with state requirements for birth certificates and these requirements vary but they almost all require some kind of surgery. I was also told that changing gender on the SS# also varies from office to office and who processes the paperwork. My local office accepted the surgeon's letter and top surgery only. But again, this can vary. We are pretty much subject to state laws and government workers. I got lucky in some areas including the state I was born in. What we need is a federal law and one set of federal guidelines.

Rufus

My husband did not need to have his birth certificate changed in order to obtain the corrected passport. He has all documents (SS, DL, Passport etc.) with his correct gender.

Some states won`t change a birth certificate at all (I think there are three of these).

[Soon]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

My husband did not need to have his birth certificate changed in order to obtain the corrected passport. He has all documents (SS, DL, Passport etc.) with his correct gender.

Some states won`t change a birth certificate at all (I think there are three of these).

Also, some States won`t issue a new birth certificate but will amend the old one (with the old information still ON the BC).

Not sure if this is up to date but this site has a lot of info on States and Provinces and the changing of a BC:

http://www.drbecky.com/birthcert.html (p.s. Ohio is one of the states that will not change the sex on a BC--haven`t ran across the other one(s) that won`t)

[Soon]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

My husband did not need to have his birth certificate changed in order to obtain the corrected passport. He has all documents (SS, DL, Passport etc.) with his correct gender.

Some states won`t change a birth certificate at all (I think there are three of these).

Should read--He has all other documents changed (SS, DL, Passport) without having had his BC changed.

[Quintease]

I'm not sure where to put this, but someone may find it interesting:

A blog about what's in your pants http://www.originalplumbing.com/2011...r-not-to-pack/

[Thinker]

Nevada's employment non-discrimination bill has been signed into law by the governor (he broke ranks with the Republicans on this one). Good job, Gov. Sandoval!

http://www.lvrj.com/news/sandoval-si...122529078.html

[EnderD_503]

Read an awesome article in the Mirror today that told the story and experiences of a British transman. It was cool to see that the article just told it like he said and like it was instead of making assumptions, insults or falling into the usual stereotypes.

The man who was born a girl
by Becky Dickinson, Daily Mirror 25/05/2011

As Jack Chapman walked into his old school for the first time since he’d left 20 years earlier, former pupils and teachers glanced over and then away again, not recognising him.


It’s to be expected at a reunion but Jack had changed more than most – when he’d been there as a teenager in the 80s he was a girl called Julie.

“We all had to collect name badges when we went in and of course mine said Julie on it,” he says. “People kept looking at me and asking each other who I was. Then someone came up to me and said: ‘Sorry, I think you’re in the wrong place’.

“We had to sit on long tables from the 1960s to 1990s,” Jack, now 40, says. “It was like being invisible. I could see and recognise people but they had no idea who I was.”

Most people assumed Jack had been in sixth form, as the all-girls’ school later took boys. “But they looked at the dates on my badge and saw that couldn’t have been the case,” he says.

Other people thought he must have been someone’s partner, but Jack explained he was once a girl.

Then he met his form teacher. “I pulled out an old school photo with the yellow wall background and said: ‘Look, here I am.’ She stared and said ‘That’s nice, dear’.”

But, as Jack looks at an old school photo of himself, even he has trouble recognising the 16-year-old in the picture. The eyes are still the same shade of green, but everything else has changed. The jaw is thicker, the hair has receded, the shoulders are muscular.

Looking at himself as a small child is even stranger – the long hair and delicate features are gone. He’s even had his ears pinned back.

In fact, it’s hard to believe he’s looking at the same person. That’s because Jack was born a girl and, for the first 30 years of his life, was Julie.

From as early as he remembers, Jack knew he was different. He says: “My parents used to put me in dresses but I never felt happy. I loved it when I got hand-me-downs from my older male cousins.”

More: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-23154617/

[o'queery]

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by dameonboy

You mean in the women's room, or you are having problems in the men's (this is a trans thread, so that why clarifying)?

[o'queery]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

You mean in the women's room, or you are having problems in the men's (this is a trans thread, so that why clarifying)?

The mens room.

Most times it is when i am out in the community that i grew up in.

Though before i had become the boy that i am i was constantly ushered out of the ladies room.

Most times I try not to really let it get to me, but today it just did.

<3

[Yew]

I don't get static in men's rooms, but I do feel a little gut-knot going into one I am unfamiliar with. Many of my last visits to a women's room were met with double takes, weird looks etc, some women even leaving, then immediately returning and either embarrassed or hostile, informing me of the exact words on your sign...this was a continual sign that I should be in the Men's.

A couple of days ago I was going into what I thought was a general/unisex dressing room (it has always been free flowing and located between the mens and women's departments) with some two piece suits and was met at the door by a female employee who informed me "this is the women's dressing room" and blocked my entrance. I asked where the men's was and after finding it, made several trips in and out with zero problems. I guess sometimes I think the marker that is still on my ID actually means something, but this is a case of what you see is what you get, and people see me as a guy. The weird and shitty occasion where someone "she's" me can undermine my process a little and I think, Do I Really Pass As Well As I Think I Do?...mostly, yes I do, and so I have to stay true to what is inside- a guy. Sometimes stuff is just super weird. The most static I have gotten going into a men's room was in Pamplona, Spain and it was women waiting in line for the women's room who nailed me coming and going; this was pre-transition but I was still not feminine, and I suspect something about this aggression was about me being in there with 'their men", not cool at all.

Originally Posted by dameonboy

[LeftWriteFemme]

State Requiring Health Insurers To Cover Gender Transition


http://www.courant.com/news/politics...,1545137.story

[Feasting Panther]

In Australia each State seems to have differing laws concerning name change, gender etc.
In Western Australia you cant legaly change from M2F without undergoing SrS, however i was given an exemption due to medical issues, i can also tick 'other' or have Intersex registered on some forms, documents etc.
Its a bit complicated and annoying, but Australia never seems to take a step forward in anything, just 3 steps backwards...

[Rufusboi]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

My husband did not need to have his birth certificate changed in order to obtain the corrected passport. He has all documents (SS, DL, Passport etc.) with his correct gender.

Some states won`t change a birth certificate at all (I think there are three of these).

Wow, that's great. I wonder why I was required to send mine or show mine? I guess too that the passport people don't care what the BC says as long as you have the letter. The SS office wanted my BC though and a letter. I wonder if they would have still changed my SS if I did not have my BC changed? I think that is part of the problem, the rules seem to change based on where you live. in one SS office they might turn you down and in another they will just take the letter.

Rufus

[Thinker]

Originally Posted by Rufusboi

Wow, that's great. I wonder why I was required to send mine or show mine? I think that is part of the problem, the rules seem to change based on where you live. I guess too that the passport people don't care what the BC says as long as you have the letter.

Rufus

The birth certificate requirement for a passport is standard.......so.....you're right in that it does not matter what is marked on your bc as long as you have an acceptable letter from your physician.

I already had a passport (with F on it), so I didn't even have to re-send my birth certificate.....just the new application, the old passport, and the doctor's letter.

They kept the doctor's letter, btw, as part of my file.

[Soon]

Originally Posted by Thinker

The birth certificate requirement for a passport is standard.......so.....you're right in that it does not matter what is marked on your bc as long as you have an acceptable letter from your physician.

I already had a passport (with F on it), so I didn't even have to re-send my birth certificate.....just the new application, the old passport, and the doctor's letter.

They kept the doctor's letter, btw, as part of my file.

Yes, that is the procedure my husband followed. Just sent in the old passport, application, doc letter. No BC.

[Soon]

Originally Posted by Rufusboi

Wow, that's great. I wonder why I was required to send mine or show mine? I think that is part of the problem, the rules seem to change based on where you live.

Rufus

ETA: sorry, i just read that this statement was discussion SS cards and not passports. Maybe you were required to show a BC bécause you were never issued a passport previouslyÉ (ugh question marks!).


For anyone interested, here are some sites with more info on passports. I have to say that changing the passport (and SS) was relatively simple. We got really lucky with DL but that is quite the story.



http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/142922.htm

http://transequality.org/PDFs/passports_2010.pdf

http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/passport.html

ETA:

[Rufusboi]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

But passports are federally issued as opposed to a state issued (birth certificates are state issued which is why they have, unfortunately for some, different laws surrounding it), so the procedures are the same for all USA citizens regardless of where one lives in your country. No changed BC (or DL) is necessary to be submitted to have one`s passport changed.


Even if one has never been issued a passport, one doesn`t need to have an amended birth certificate or DL. They can provide their original documents and have a physician certification stating that the citizen has or is undergoing treatment for gender transition.


For anyone interested, here are some sites with more info. I have to say that changing the passport was relatively simple.



http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/142922.htm

http://transequality.org/PDFs/passports_2010.pdf

http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/passport.html

I already had a passport. I was told on the phone by the passport office to send in the birth certificate. I'm not sure why I was told that if it isn't needed. I just sent in what I was told to send in. So ultimately I did not even have to send in the BC even though I was instructed too.

At the SS office I was initially refused a gender marker change even with M on my BC. I was sent away while the office worker consulted with his supervisor. The next day I got a call saying they would change it. So.... not really sure why there was an initial refusal/policy check. I read online on various sites that the SS can b etricky because the policy is worded vaguely and can sometimes be up to the office and how they are reading it. Again, this is just my experience of the whole process and the different forms and paperwork. For me, changing the BC was the easiest. It was the first thing I changed because I thought it would make it easier for me to get everything else changed. It did and it didn't.

I do think it is easier to get the DL changed if you have the SS changed first. I have read reports and have been told first hand of one situation where the DL was not changed because the SS had not been changed due to the cross checking. So I think to be on the safe side for anyone just going into this it is best to get the SS changed before going into the DL office. But who knows? I'm sure there are some who have had their DL changed before the SS.

As I said, it sometimes seems like it depends on who you talk to. I was expressly told to send in my BC even though I was amending a passport, while you were not. I think the agencies struggle with the wording in the policies. This policy had just changed when I applied for my passport, so maybe passport offices are more clear on the paperwork by now.

Rufus