If the state insists we have GRS to change our gender on our birth cert...

[kelly_aus]

Grace, if you have a whole bunch of money spare, what you need to do is take the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to court - the High Court. Citing the High Court decision against the WA Registrar, also throwing in the human rights issue along the way.

I'm kinda tempted to have a lower level dig at the Registrar here in Victoria, just need to find a lawyer willing to do it pro bono.

[iKate]

I wasn't intending to put down healthcare in the US Kate.  I suppose in a lot of ways the healthcare systems we grow up with and are used to and are familiar things and anything else seems foreign.  I had private health insurance for a while while I was working and soon discovered that the insurance company was more interested in finding ways to deny my claim than actually pay out.  Eventually I just cancelled the policy because it was useless.

It can be a hit or miss. But I've seen that both from the government and private plans. Social security disability for example in the U.S. is a government run program and notoriously difficult to qualify for. They seem to be worse than most insurance companies.

Yes some insurance companies are evil but the Government can hold you at gunpoint and is accountable to no one, except if a mass of voters gets together and holds them accountable. I would rather take my chances with a private system.

[Arch]

Unfortunately the state I was born in (Tennessee) will not change the gender even with GRS. It's the only state that has a law against transgender individuals changing their gender on their birth certificate. The other two states where you can't change it (Idaho and Ohio) simply don't have a procedure to allow you to change it.

I don't consider this an accurate portrayal of the status of the fifty states. Please note that "amending" a birth certificate is not (or not necessarily) the same as altering it. 

A case in point is my birth state of South Carolina, which "amends" but does NOT actually change the birth certificate. SC insists on attaching an "amendment card" to the original BC so that all can see exactly what was changed. The original BC is not altered in any way. I suppose that this situation beats no change at all, but not by much, in my opinion. I would never be able to maintain my privacy with such a birth certificate.

Other states insist on doing something similar--in some way pointing out the alteration and outing the bearer to anyone who cares to read the document.

[Sydney_NYC]

I don't consider this an accurate portrayal of the status of the fifty states. Please note that "amending" a birth certificate is not (or not necessarily) the same as altering it. 

A case in point is my birth state of South Carolina, which "amends" but does NOT actually change the birth certificate. SC insists on attaching an "amendment card" to the original BC so that all can see exactly what was changed. The original BC is not altered in any way. I suppose that this situation beats no change at all, but not by much, in my opinion. I would never be able to maintain my privacy with such a birth certificate.

Other states insist on doing something similar--in some way pointing out the alteration and outing the bearer to anyone who cares to read the document.

You make a valid point. The same goes with names. In Tennessee, a name change is amended so the original name, although crossed out, it readable. I didn't even both changing the name on my BC. I'm just sticking with using my Passport in lieu of a BC.

[Arch]

A bunch of states aren't as trans-friendly as they ought to be.

But Tennessee...wow.

[iKate]

You make a valid point. The same goes with names. In Tennessee, a name change is amended so the original name, although crossed out, it readable. I didn't even both changing the name on my BC. I'm just sticking with using my Passport in lieu of a BC.

What happens if you lose it and order a replacement?

[Sydney_NYC]

What happens if you lose it and order a replacement?

If I loose my passport? As long as you have your passport number and a valid state ID (which has female on it), you can get a replacement. Worse case scenario is to show original birth certificate, letter and court order to get a new passport if the number is lost. I keep a photo copy of my passport anyway and a scanned version in my DropBox account.

[Jill F]

In the US, this is something that needs fixed at the national level.   Different rules apply to you depending on where you were born.   Although you can decide to live wherever you want, you can't exactly choose your birth state.  Changing gender markers only after proof of surgery is discriminatory to those who cannot afford it or those who are content with being non-op.

I would like to see a transgender bill of rights passed on the federal level, becuse the patchwork of laws we have isn't working and is highly unfair.   

[AndrewB]

I don't consider this an accurate portrayal of the status of the fifty states. Please note that "amending" a birth certificate is not (or not necessarily) the same as altering it. 

A case in point is my birth state of South Carolina, which "amends" but does NOT actually change the birth certificate. SC insists on attaching an "amendment card" to the original BC so that all can see exactly what was changed. The original BC is not altered in any way. I suppose that this situation beats no change at all, but not by much, in my opinion. I would never be able to maintain my privacy with such a birth certificate.

Other states insist on doing something similar--in some way pointing out the alteration and outing the bearer to anyone who cares to read the document.

Huh, interesting that this varies from state to state. In Oregon, an amendment to the original BC mandates that the original be government sealed from public and government view and the amended/altered (in Oregon it's essentially the same, semantics unimportant) becomes your birth certificate for all intents and purposes, no strings/cards attached.

[Ms Grace]

Grace, if you have a whole bunch of money spare, what you need to do is take the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to court - the High Court. Citing the High Court decision against the WA Registrar, also throwing in the human rights issue along the way.

I'm kinda tempted to have a lower level dig at the Registrar here in Victoria, just need to find a lawyer willing to do it pro bono.

We had someone win a case against the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages for the right to have no sex registered on their birth certificate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrie_May-Welby

Don't know if they had a pro bono lawyer or not.

[Arch]

I have had, and still have, mixed feelings about surgical requirements. On the one hand, I can see that having a strict surgical requirement eliminates certain problems and confusion. On the other hand, most, if not all, of said problems arise from people's unreasonable fixation on genitals as absolute categorical determiners. If people weren't so obsessed with genitals, then agencies probably wouldn't be, either. While people ARE so obsessed, we will keep running into ugly situations that could "easily" be solved by a surgical requirement. But what an ugly, insensitive, and discriminatory solution.

The more we push the envelope, the more likely people are to become used to ambiguity. But it's going to take some time, especially in America, where the Puritan heritage still holds sway.

[iKate]

If I loose my passport? As long as you have your passport number and a valid state ID (which has female on it), you can get a replacement. Worse case scenario is to show original birth certificate, letter and court order to get a new passport if the number is lost. I keep a photo copy of my passport anyway and a scanned version in my DropBox account.

No, I meant your BC. What happens if you lose it and need to order a replacement? Do they issue it with the new name? Or do they issue it with the old name and cross it out and put your new name?

And Dropbox, yikes. I keep my document copies encrypted on a DVD stored at home in a fireproof heavy safe and in a safe deposit box at the bank.

[iKate]

In the US, this is something that needs fixed at the national level.   Different rules apply to you depending on where you were born.   Although you can decide to live wherever you want, you can't exactly choose your birth state.  Changing gender markers only after proof of surgery is discriminatory to those who cannot afford it or those who are content with being non-op.

I would like to see a transgender bill of rights passed on the federal level, becuse the patchwork of laws we have isn't working and is highly unfair.

This would probably require a constitutional amendment which will be resisted because of states rights. The birth certificate issue at least. Something easier than this (which, essentially is force) is to win hearts and minds and get state laws and policies passed.

[Sydney_NYC]

No, I meant your BC. What happens if you lose it and need to order a replacement? Do they issue it with the new name? Or do they issue it with the old name and cross it out and put your new name?

No, they issue a certified copy with the crossed out name.

And Dropbox, yikes. I keep my document copies encrypted on a DVD stored at home in a fireproof heavy safe and in a safe deposit box at the bank.

Those files are encrypted prior to putting them on Dropbox. After hearing how the US Government was able for Dropbox to hand someones files, that means that if someone else can do that, then its possible to hack.