I've been on T for a couple of months now and am thinking about changing the gender marker on my driver's license. Originally, I had reasons for not changing any gender markers at all, but I finally realized that I can't live that way even if it causes problems for my partner (who, let's face it, might not stay with me anyway).
I'm not sure when I'll have top surgery, but I'm thinking about doing it this summer. I guess I'll use that to change my gender with the Social Security Administration.
But that is months away at best, and I want to change my driver's license NOW. I feel like I just can't stand it anymore. I know that some people change their gender with the DMV but not with the SSA, but I don't know what kinds of pitfalls there might be for someone who does this. One agency is state, and one is federal. How likely is it that I'll run into problems in the next few months to a year if I change one and not the other? I need to weigh my options.
So...if you've got one gender on your DMV record and another with the SSA, what problems, if any, have you had? If you have any legal expertise or secondhand observations of other people's experiences, that might help me, too.
I suspect that this isn't such a big deal, but I'm characteristically cautious and deliberate. And two days ago, I had no intention of legally changing my gender marker with any agency at all. The sudden one-eighty is a little bit dizzying...
I changed mine as soon as I could after my name change. It was the second best thing to happen. The first was the name change.
Go For It, Arch. It is a big boost to the ego.
Janet
Do it, Arch! You'll wear out the little plastic rectangle looking at it constantly.
The rub is if you get a new job and use your new ID to start there "stealth" as male.
The Social Security Administration will (might?) eventually catch up with you and send your employer a "no-match" letter.
Of course, by then you might have updated the SSA already.
Still, if you're not getting a new job and filling out a new I-9 form as male there will be no problem.