I don't get on here very often, it's been quite a while.

For the last 20 months (approx) since I had my SRS in San Mateo I've just been laying low and keeping to myself.  I don't get out much.  I don't need to.

One thing that's been a low or no priority for me has been getting ID or a DL.

Right after I legally changed my name in 2010 I went to the Social Security, showed them my court order and they gave me a new SS card with my now legal female name.
I was pre-surgery though at the time so they didn't record a gender change to my record.  I don't know if they do that or not but now I need to find out.

Last year my mom passed away and my dad has been hounding me to get an ID so he could put me on his bank accounts in case something happens to him, that way I have instant access to his finances without fighting the courts and parasite lawyers, it simply becomes my money.

So dad has to go to Canada to have hernia surgery and sh*t is getting real now.  So I gathered up my papers and dad took me to the texASS DPS office to get an ID on Friday (yesterday).
I had in hand my court order for my name change from 2010, I had my surgical declaration letter from Marci Bowers from Feb 2011, my new Social Security card, my satellite bill with my current address in my name and a few other things listed on the DPS site as required ID to get and ID.  I also had with me a copy of my original birth certificate that my mom had gotten for me to take to California just in case it was needed for anything (it was not)..  I did NOT want to show them that if I could avoid it.

So I sit and wait an HOUR AND A HALF and finally get to a window with a carbon based unit behind it.
I explain to her that I need an ID and I explain to her about the surgery I had.  She looks at me like I'm a Martian.  I ask her if they have ever dealt with this before and she told me no, but they had someone get a DL a few weeks ago that has not had surgery.  (I know who that was, a dear friend of mine.)  She tells me she doesn't know how to deal with this.
Then she asks me if I've had my birth certificate amended. I told her no, I know nothing about that.  She pulls out a book and points to some paragraph that says I have to have an amended BC and a court order.  WHAT?  WTF? 

She REFUSED to give me an ID with female as my gender!  I was PISSED!  I was LIVID!!  It took every ounce of control I had not to back hand her in the mouth and call her every thing I could dredge up from my sea faring past!  She was being an ass about it and flat out refused to help me.  I told her "I HAVE A ->-bleeped-<-ING VAGINA!  YOU CAN'T MAKE ME TAKE AN ID THAT SAYS MALE, I'M A WOMAN WITH A VAGINA!  DO YOU HAVE TO SEE MY VAGINA???!!!!"

Nope.... 

I had no choice.  I had to get the god d*mn ID with the wrong gender because I had to get on my dad's bank account THAT DAY because he is leaving for Canada on Monday morning!
I cursed that b*tch like there was no tomorrow and she told me if I said one more word she would have an officer place me under arrest. 

I gave in and took the damn thing with the wrong gender, got the temporary copy and left.  PISSED OFF...  When I got in my dads van I punched the dashboard and my knuckles tore open and blood sprayed all over like an episode of Dexter.  Great..... 

I was screaming and cursing and my dad just drove, he didn't say anything, he knew it would not help matters.  By the time we got back to town I had settled down enough that we went to his bank and did the paperwork to put me on his account.  But before we got there I took a knife and scraped the M off that temporary paper copy then folded and refolded it several times, crinkled it up and jammed it into the bottom of my purse.  In the bank I dug it out, handed it to the girl and she made a xerox copy of it without looking at it.  I saw the copy on her desk and it was so crappy that it doesn't matter anyway.

So now I have this f**king WRONG ID coming in the mail from the state.  I'm going to destroy it when it comes in, instantly.  I will not show that thing to anyone.  Besides, the photo SUCKED.  I was super pissed and I looked like the daughter of Satan in the picture.

When my dad gets back from Canada I need to get this problem fixed.  WTF do I need to do??  I have no idea or clue what to do and no one around here does either.
This is a small town and it's deadly to be trans around here.  The rednecks will flat out kill you if you are clocked.  Fortunately for me, I don't have any problem passing at all.
But the legal system here has never dealt with folks like us, period.  When I needed to change my name I called a bunch of lawyers, half of them told me I was going to hell and the other half told me that they had no idea how to do a male to female name change.  I finally found one lawyer that said she would try but that she too had no idea how to do it.

It took 6 months!!  Even the court system here had no idea, they had never done a MTF name change before, I was the first.

What is this about amending my birth certificate?  What does that get me?  How does that work? And will I have to go through another background check (one from FBI and one from DPS) and how long should it take?  Do I do that first then have to go to court to have the judge approve it?

It really PISSES ME OFF that I have to go beg the court and the state of texASS to recognize my gender.  As if my vagina isn't proof enough!

Please, I need someone that lives or lived in Texas that has been through this to advise me what the procedure is.  California or Virgina or Idaho folks all have different laws and legal systems so while I appreciate your situation, it won't be helpful to me. 

I really have no idea how to proceed and I can't even go to a lawyer because they won't know how to proceed either, this is small town boonies here, not the big city.  Nearest big city is Houston and that a several hours drive from here.

Thanks!

I'm sorry you had to go through that horrible, humiliating experience hon.
Texas sounds like a kind of tough place to be trans.
I was looking online just now and I see others have similar difficulties.

You may have already done this, but I'll just throw some links here that may or may not help, because being from Canada I don't really know much about the rules. Sure sounds a lot tougher than it is here, but we're freaky hippie folk.

I hope you can make some headway in this. Sounds like a DL might be a start. Interestingly I read that getting a passport might be easier (being Federal I guess) than amending a BC. It's the other way around here I believe - I need my properly gendered BC to get a properly gendered passport.

Good luck!

http://www.lauras-playground.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36901

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/feb/12/dallas-county-judges-granting-gender-marker-change/

This is the Texas part of this site, describing the State's requirements for changing the gender marker on your birth certificate:
http://www.drbecky.com/birthcert.html

"Texas (updated 2011)

Direct from the Amendment Specialists at the Department of Vital Statistics

Go to:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqproc/forms.shtm

and open Form VS-2318.1A.

Print it out and fill it out.

The fees to file an amendment to a birth certificate are $15.00. The cost of a certified copy of the birth certificate is $22.00 for each certificate. The fees were raised in December of 2005. There are two styles of the birth certificate, a short form or abstract and a long form. The short form is printed from the computer system and will only show the new name, date of birth, place of birth, sex, and parent's names. The long form is a photocopy of the original birth record filed with our office at the time of birth onto our certified paper that will show the amendment underneath. On the long form you will be able to see the old information and the new information and how it was changed. It is up to you which style of birth certificate you want. We will automatically issue the short form or abstract unless you specifically request the long form.

Along with your Application and fees you will need to submit a certified copy of the court order granting the name and gender change. The court order must have the original stamp or seal and signature of the clerk of the court. We can accept court orders from any state within the US. The court order does not have to come from a Texas Court if you do not live in the state of Texas.

We do not need a copy of the SRS letter or a photocopy of your driver's license because the court will have verified all the information.

If you send us the Application, correct fees, and CERTIFIED COPY of the court order, your request will NOT be denied. The Vital Statistics Office in Austin, Texas is the only office that has the authority to make any changes or corrections to a birth certificate for a person born in the state of Texas.

The normal processing time for requests sent by regular mail is 6-8 weeks. Send your money, court order and application to: Vital Statistics Unit MC 2096, Tx Dept of State Health Services, PO Box 149347, Austin, Texas 78714-9347.

If you would like expedited services an additional fee of $13.00 is required. $5.00 expedite fee and $8.00 for our office to overnight the birth certificate to your address once the birth certificate is amended. Please use an overnight service such as Fed-Ex, UPS, DHL, ect... Do NOT use the Post Office. They do not hand deliver the package to our office and your request will only be delayed because it will come to our office as regular mail. If you use our expedite service, send your money, court order and application to: Vital Statistics Unit MC 2096, Tx Dept of State Health Services, 1100 W. 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756. The processing time for the expedite service is 10-15 business days.

You can make one check or money order out for the total fees. One check or money order of $37.00 for the amendment filing fee and one certified copy of the birth certificate OR $50.00 for the amendment filing fee, one certified copy of the birth certificate and the expedited fees."

Hope some of this helps you hon.

Well, I have a court order for my name change only.  When I applied to get my name changed I was pre-op at the time but I asked if they could change my gender to female at the same time.  I was told, "Absolutely not!" in those exact words.  It took six months just to get my name changed because the lawyer, the judge and I guess the courts had to research to find out how to do it because they had never done an MTF name change here and had never even heard of such a thing.  It blew their mind that something like that was happening in their little christian town.

From what I've gathered from reading the stuff you posted, you have to have a court order for a gender change before you can get your BC amended.  In that order.

But what I can not find anywhere is how that is done.

I also read that since that Nikki Araguz (sp?) thing in Wharton, Texas (not too far from here), the judges and the state are up on their high and mighty horses now and are largely denying trans related ANYTHING in the courts now.  They've used their victory in that as justification to wage a holy war against us.

I will NOT go through life with a MF'n ID or DL that says I'm a male.  That s**t ain't happening!   

Can I suggest you go outside your local county to deal with this?  They sound ignorant and hostile.  The laws they have to follow are federal and state laws - they have a legal obligation to follow the laws.  However, they often have discretion in the execution (and sometimes interpretation) of those laws.  I would call a competent attorney in the capital region or any of the bigger regions that are likely to have a trans population and might be more familiar and comfortable with this process.

If they insist you have to go through the local courts in your county, you can have them document the procedures so you have it clearly written out for you to take to your local court.  If you make it clear to the local courts that the faster they process your legal request the sooner they'll be rid of you that might give them motivation to do their job properly.

Best of luck!

Quote from: SageFox on October 14, 2012, 02:58:48 AM
Can I suggest you go outside your local county to deal with this?  They sound ignorant and hostile.  The laws they have to follow are federal and state laws - they have a legal obligation to follow the laws.  However, they often have discretion in the execution (and sometimes interpretation) of those laws.  I would call a competent attorney in the capital region or any of the bigger regions that are likely to have a trans population and might be more familiar and comfortable with this process.

If they insist you have to go through the local courts in your county, you can have them document the procedures so you have it clearly written out for you to take to your local court.  If you make it clear to the local courts that the faster they process your legal request the sooner they'll be rid of you that might give them motivation to do their job properly.

Best of luck!

ALL of texASS is ignorant and hostile.  I am in the sphincter of Satan here.  TexASS has gone out of their way to pass laws that specifically discriminate against GLB and especially T.
TexASS doesn't give two damns about federal ANYTHING.  Two words, Rick Perry.  The most ignorant, backwards, hateful person to ever rule the state.  He's a crook and a low brow scum and has appointed all his corporate christian pals to high level positions in the government here and they work around the clock to discriminate against as many people as they can in as many ways as they can.

This is one of the worst places in the US to be T.  We have ZERO rights.  Not only is it legal to discriminate against trans people here, it's encouraged by the state!

Sandy,

If it's really that bad you have three choices:

1) Give up
2) Fight it
3) Move

Personally, I'd chose option three - but I've never liked Texas but I'm biased as I was drugged and robbed there was I was hitchhiking through at 17.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Not to mention the discrimination I received for the long hair and "not fitting in" style I wore back then (converse and lenin glasses?).

If you're determined to stay where you are then you obviously have to fight it and work around the discrimination.  Educate yourself on what the laws really say, be smarter than the people you have to work through to make the changes, and don't take no for an answer.

Good luck.

Quote from: SageFox on October 14, 2012, 10:33:51 PM
If it's really that bad you have three choices:

1) Give up
2) Fight it
3) Move

Realistically, #3 doesn't actually solve the problem, it just changes the venue.  I helped a friend this week try to get her gender/sex changed at a state agency this week (not for ID - her ID already is accurate), because of what they did to her when she tried to do it herself.  What a pain in the rear (and incredibly hurtful and humiliating for her, as a result of their treatment of her), for a very simple request for essentially data correction to match her ID.

That said, there are better and worse places to live even with this (and Texas, historically, has not recognized the concept of someone's sex being different than their presumed chromosomes for things where it actually matters like marriage).  And it sounds like Texas DPS is pretty horrible.  But there is no place that's perfect yet, at least not on earth.

I personally think a combination of #1, #2, and #3 is probably good, along with a #4 - get help from others.

Quote from: SageFox on October 14, 2012, 10:33:51 PM
Sandy,

If it's really that bad you have three choices:

1) Give up
2) Fight it
3) Move

Personally, I'd chose option three - but I've never liked Texas but I'm biased as I was drugged and robbed there was I was hitchhiking through at 17.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Not to mention the discrimination I received for the long hair and "not fitting in" style I wore back then (converse and lenin glasses?).

If you're determined to stay where you are then you obviously have to fight it and work around the discrimination.  Educate yourself on what the laws really say, be smarter than the people you have to work through to make the changes, and don't take no for an answer.

Good luck.

Moving is not an option.  I am stuck here because of family.  My mom recently passed away and I have to stay here to take care of my dad.  Once he passes away I plan to sell everything and leave this hell hole forever and never return.

Giving up is not an option.  I will NOT accept an ID or DL that says "male".  I'm a woman, I have lived as a woman for years, I've had SRS and I have a vagina, I have a boyfriend that pokes his wee-wee in my girl parts and I'll be GD if anyone, state included, state ESPECIALLY is going to categorize me as a male!  That sh*t ain't happening!

Thanks to the self righteous Nikki Araguz and her cheerleaders (who shall remain unnamed but you know who they are), they had to be media attention whore and f*** it up for everyone else!
What she did was illegal, she knew she was doing something illegal, she got caught, she got spanked and then when she raised hell about it and had to bring a parade to town (in Wharton) they pissed off the entire town and ruined it for everyone, forever!  Now, that BS is going to cost me thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and my chance of success is extremely small.  It will take months and months, I have to go to the sheriff's office and get finger printed like a criminal AGAIN, I have to go through another FBI, Homeland Stupidity and DPS background check, AGAIN and expose the details of my life to countless uncaring, hateful people along the way, AGAIN...

The Wharton entourage feels that everyone, no exceptions, should be out, loud and proud, just like they are.  And if you want to be stealth, you're the devil, you're the enemy.
That BS they pulled, they didn't give a d*mn how it affected anyone else.  When Nikki got caught gaming the system she should have just STFU and went away quietly.
But by making a BIG stink about it, everyone came out on the bad end of that deal, even those of us that didn't subscribe to their game plan or approve of it.

I can't say here how frickin PISSED I am over that BS they tried to pull.

And you know, even if I were able to just pack up and move, it wouldn't matter because no matter where I go, the new state will issue ID/DL on the texASS birth certificate I have and if texASS won't let me change it, then I'm still screwed, still a prisoner of the state no matter where I go.

For now I will just continue to do what I've been doing for the past 33 years and live outside of the system, without ID/DL and renouncing the state as my master and owner.  Texas can kiss my ass.

Still, I have to fight this, I have no choice.  If I can't get a a DL with my proper gender I'll just commit suicide because I will not let the state label me as a male and control my life as such.  I will have the final say so.

Best I can suggest is that there are thousands of trans people in Texas. Find them. Find out what worked for them. A lot of them may be underground or stealth, but they're there, just may take a bit of searching.

Good luck, Sandy. I wish you the best.

I have a friend who just went full time and she did her name change in Dallas and has already got an F on her license. She temporarily moved to Colorado who didnt make a big deal out of the change then came right back and  they left the F on license. I've also heard of clerks just thinking it was a mistake and "fixing " it in the computer.   I live in the Dallas area myself. I'm not full time yet so I havent had to deal with any of that but I hate to hear you have had such a hard time.

Every state is different.

I think in Texas you can only get the "F" if you get your Birth Certificate amended. That's not too difficult. Send the request to have it changed along with your letter from your SRS proving you had the surgery.

After that, take the new Birth Certificate and go to the DMV and get your new license. Walla.

Cross that out. If you had your surgery papers plus your court order for name change they are required by law to give you female. I highly encourage you to go back there and speak to a supervisor and remind them of Texas policy.

You don't even need a lawyer on this...as it's in black and white
Be thankful....in Ohio and Tennessee, you cannot even change your birth records.

I know this doesn't help but, dayum you have a ton of emotion hehe.  I can sorta see you shouting at the judge, and I would of totally shed a tear at how epically brave you were that day.  Some may say dumb, but I like it hehe.

You will fight fight fight!

Quote from: Sandy2012 on October 15, 2012, 12:06:59 AM
Still, I have to fight this, I have no choice.  If I can't get a a DL with my proper gender I'll just commit suicide because I will not let the state label me as a male and control my life as such.  I will have the final say so.

Yes Texas as a whole is a conservative state... but you just need to look in the right places.... Austin is way way way way left and liberal.  Hell LESLIE lived here as an accepted ICON.

Houston looks like it has an attorney : http://www.transgenderlegal.com/

Quote
TRANSGENDER LEGAL was created to accelerate the legal freedom of transgenders!

Transgenders include, but are not limited to, part-time crossdressers and full-time transsexuals. This site is dedicated to assist them and any other person who expresses any type of actual or perceived gender presentation which is at variance with bipolar, socially assigned, gender presentations or gender identifications.

TRANSGENDER LEGAL is the official web site for Phyllis Randolph Frye, Esq., of Houston, Texas, USA. This site includes most of the two-plus decades of her writings and other items that she has produced in her quest for individual freedom and for freedom of her people.

• It should be pointed out that Phyllis Frye has a particular judge (whose identity she does not disclose to anyone other than her own clients) who will grant name changes to a Texas resident who lives in a different county.

Another in Austin : http://www.glbt-attorneys.com/settlements.htm

http://www.tsroadmap.com/reality/name/texas.html

I hope this helps

D

It would probably only get you arrested, but if I were you I'd be tempted to just drop trou and show them your crotch.

Since that would be highly inappropriate, perhaps you could carry a photograph of your nethermost regions.

Sorry I don't have more realistic advice.

Randi

Quote from: Annah on October 15, 2012, 02:33:44 PM
Every state is different.

I think in Texas you can only get the "F" if you get your Birth Certificate amended. That's not too difficult. Send the request to have it changed along with your letter from your SRS proving you had the surgery.

After that, take the new Birth Certificate and go to the DMV and get your new license. Walla.

Cross that out. If you had your surgery papers plus your court order for name change they are required by law to give you female. I highly encourage you to go back there and speak to a supervisor and remind them of Texas policy.

You don't even need a lawyer on this...as it's in black and white
Be thankful....in Ohio and Tennessee, you cannot even change your birth records.

In most states you can go to ANY DMV office, you don't have to go to one in the county you live in for a DL. I know when I got my name change papers and went to get a new DL I would not have gone to some small redneck city to get mine done. As someone else posted, sounds like Austin is a less conservative place and they probably have dealt with this and actually know what is required. I know you are pissed at THIS office and wanna go back there and force them to do the right thing but IMHO the easy path is to take all this paperwork to a DMV office where more liberal minded people live. Life is too short to fight ignorant people like this.

I had a similar situation in Texas.
Presented them my surgical letter and a Federal Passport marked F for female.
Yet this was not good enough for Texas.
So I moved to Oregon.

Supposedly you can go to Texas court and have a judge approve you specifically for the ID gender marker.
OR you can go into the DPS asking for a new photo and nonchalantly say ~oh could you fix this also?~
while pointing to the M on your old ID.

I very nearly got away with that but chose not to lie when asked directly whether this was a "from birth" or "from change" gender issue.

Quote from: Sandy2012 on October 14, 2012, 12:46:52 AM
I don't get on here very often, it's been quite a while.

I had no choice.  I had to get the god d*mn ID with the wrong gender because I had to get on my dad's bank account THAT DAY because he is leaving for Canada on Monday morning!
I cursed that b*tch like there was no tomorrow and she told me if I said one more word she would have an officer place me under arrest. 

Please, I need someone that lives or lived in Texas that has been through this to advise me what the procedure is.  California or Virgina or Idaho folks all have different laws and legal systems so while I appreciate your situation, it won't be helpful to me. 

Well that would completely suck. Can I ask a question, why didn't you ask to speak to a supervisor? A letter confirming surgery I would think would be enough. If you are travelling though, why didn't you use a passport? That process is much easier to update your sex with as long as you have proof of surgery (especially if you live in a state that does not allow updates to birth certificates). When you ge back if I were you I would get that birth certificate updated. If you can't amend the birth certificate then get a new passport and give them that. It's proof of your name and gender and that you are a US citizen and is accepted identification throughout the world. They can't ignore that.

If ou ask me though something sounds very suspicious when they do one person's ID withou surgery an cannot do another WITH surgery.

Quote from: SageFox on October 14, 2012, 10:33:51 PM
Sandy,

If it's really that bad you have three choices:

1) Give up
2) Fight it
3) Move

Personally, I'd chose option three - but I've never liked Texas but I'm biased as I was drugged and robbed there was I was hitchhiking through at 17.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Not to mention the discrimination I received for the long hair and "not fitting in" style I wore back then (converse and lenin glasses?).

If you're determined to stay where you are then you obviously have to fight it and work around the discrimination.  Educate yourself on what the laws really say, be smarter than the people you have to work through to make the changes, and don't take no for an answer.

Good luck.

Move to another state, and if you do not want to leave Texas, then movoe to Austin

ok

I talked to some Texan trans friends about this issue.

First of all I mean no offense to "ya'all" living in Texas...but I would no sooner live there than I would live in Iran. But that's besides the point. lol

The girls I talked to stated their DMV all gave them a hard time. Normally if you have a letter for gender change along with the name change they have to change it. But if you have a born again supervisor there...itll be tough...even when the law is on your side.

Here's how the four girls I talked to got it fixed the second time:

They paid a lawyer 50 bucks to go meet the girl at the DMV. Then, when you walk to the counter with where the federal disgruntled employee is sitting you say

"Hi..my name is so and so and this is my lawyer. Here are my court documents for a name and gender change."

It worked every single time.

It might even work saying "I need you to give me something in writing explaining why you can't do this, so I can take this to my lawyer to have them figure out what else I need to do. Or at least a printout with the laws and circle the parts of it I don't meet.". Or as Annah said, you might have to drag a lawyer in there with you.