Quote from: sascraps on March 29, 2011, 12:10:52 PM
A little off topic, but how do you live as a male full time before any physical transition? As in, when you can't legally claim a male name or apply for a job under a name other than your legal name, and so forth?
You do not need to have undergone any form of physical transition before changing your name in any US state. Lots of people change their names for all kinds of reasons. When I got my name changed, there were 40 other people in the room with me, not one of whom seemed to me to be trans, who were all changing their names for some reason, whether it was because they just didn't like their current name or because they wanted their name to reflect a changing family situation, etc. A few judges might give you a hard time about changing your name to a male-sounding name and may even deny your name change petition, but generally if you can provide sufficient reasons (e.g., all of your family and friends have known you by this name for x amount of time), you should be okay. With a court-ordered name change, you can change your name on any official document, with the possible exception of your birth certificate, depending on your state. And in a lot of states, you can change your gender marker on your drivers license with just a doctors note. US Passports, too, only require a doctors note to change the gender marker, and these notes do not have to indicate that you have undergone medical transition, just that you identify as male and that that identification is stable (like you're not changing your mind about it every ten minutes). Birth certificates are usually a bit trickier with respect to the gender marker, but birth certificates also rarely matter. I mean, how often do you ever have to show anyone your birth certificate? Once you've gotten a social security number, drivers license, and passport, the answer is pretty much never.
I socially transitioned two years before beginning medical transition. I started being known by my new name and pronouns, and used that information on everything except official forms and job applications (and then once I'd gotten the job I would explain the situation to my boss so that I could be called the correct name). I got my name legally changed about a year later, and have still not gotten my gender marker changed on any documents because I just started seeing a doctor and haven't gotten around to asking her yet, but that has proved not to matter at all. Even when I got pulled over by the cops for speeding - he looked closely enough at my license to write down my height and weight, but despite the F marker, still addressed me as sir (and this was in rural Oregon, so not a super progressive area or anything). And I was read as male frequently even before coming out as trans, so I was really just lucky in that respect. But in short, living as male full time before/without medical transition is possible, and many people do it.
