Hey, guys. So, I sort of registered here last year when I was first learning about this stuff, and for some reason I was just unsettled by the site or something, I don't know. I deleted my account, for whatever reason, but now of course I have a question I'm probably not going to get answered anywhere else. Harr harr. So, hi again.
Anyway, as of June 3rd, my name change will officially be complete (yay!!!!), and I'm just taking my driver's training now (have a learners currently). In California, there's a form you can have your doctor fill out just saying you're a bro and your license can say it too, basically. And my doctor is insanely nice and helpful and I know he would do it, but I'm just wondering a couple things:
Firstly, will having my license say M while all other things currently say F effect anything? (I would assume it wouldn't cause problems, otherwise why would the option be there?)
And filling out forms and such where they ask about gender, would I then get to delightfully fill in an M, or would I just leave it blank or what? (I usually add my own box right now.)
There's a similar thing for changing gender on passports. Same questions apply.
And lastly, I assume no one can/would give me any crap for going by 'Mr.', correct? It's generally an optional thing on forms, and married women, for example, can choose Mrs. or Ms. depending on preference, so I would think it would be the same. Any input?
Charlie, you shouldn't have any problem doing that as long as you stay in California. If you move out of state before your legal name change is finalized, it can get dicy when you need a new driver's license.
I only have my DL gender marker changed (I'm in CA also), but not my birth certificate nor my social security card, yet. It hasn't been an issue, although I'm going to see about getting the latter two items corrected ASAP. The gender marker not matching in the social security information could cause problems when applying for a job. I was able to change my gender marker at my university with my new driver's license, although I had to get a selective service exemption letter as well, since my student loans are issued by the government.
Congratulations on your name change. And I think you should go with Mr. if that's what you want; before I officially transitioned, I started going with M.
Welcome back. Grimm's right about gender marker disparity and jobs, but I think there's only a problem after you've landed the job. Then you might get a mismatch from Social Security. But don't quote me on that.
As for forms, I'd say it depends on the form and the situation. Sorry if that's not helpful.
If you already have a passport, the State Department now has real guidelines about how to go about it. If you don't have a passport yet and don't plan to get one till you have legally changed sex with the feds, you might luck out.
Go to the Transgender Law Center site. They have a file called "I.D. Please" (something like that) that details I.D. changes. They talk about CDL, SSA, passpports, etc.