How long before i am legally able to change my name and birth sex marker on my documents? In which order should I get them done?

You can change your name when you wish.  Gender marker on the ID, should be done when you do full time.  For the birth certificate and the Social Security requires genital surgery.  For the SSA, you can sometimes get it changed with just an orchidetomy.  Depends on the clerk and if the surgeon's letter states "irreversible genital surgery".

Also, if you are changing your DL, don't you have to do SS first?

yeah I'm confused now, so Ms Obrien is this for every state in the U.S. , your only allowed to change The ID only? So if your non op or pre-op theres nothing else you can legally change?

Quote from: Arch on December 19, 2012, 03:20:08 PM
Also, if you are changing your DL, don't you have to do SS first?

After I got my name changed, the first thing I changed was my DL. It was a good thing too because the SSA office wanted a copy of my old and new ID. Granted, that is only changing my name on my SS since they won't change gender without surgery.

Seems to me like that creates a conflict getting hired or for government records, Your Id can say female but your ss and bc say male.

When I changed my name, I change it with the Driver's License Department and the Social Security.  In Oregon, you can change your gender marker with a letter from a state approved therapist.  Which I did.

The SSA requires a letter to change the gender marker on their records.  This can lead to problems when looking for work.

Quote from: Brooke777 on December 19, 2012, 03:27:26 PM
After I got my name changed, the first thing I changed was my DL. It was a good thing too because the SSA office wanted a copy of my old and new ID. Granted, that is only changing my name on my SS since they won't change gender without surgery.

Okay, but how long ago was that? At least in CA, you need to change your name with the SSA before you can change your DL because the DMV is now hooked into the SSA computer system. I believe this SSA-before-DMV process is a recent change, and it might not hold true for all states, but it's worth checking out. And for name changes, the SSA office should be happy with a court doc.

Quote from: Arch on December 19, 2012, 03:36:43 PM
Okay, but how long ago was that? At least in CA, you need to change your name with the SSA before you can change your DL because the DMV is now hooked into the SSA computer system. I believe this SSA-before-DMV process is a recent change, and it might not hold true for all states, but it's worth checking out. And for name changes, the SSA office should be happy with a court doc.

I changed my name the last week of November, and got my DL shortly after. I did not do my SS until the first week of December. When I called them, the lady was real nice and told me that I would have to have surgery to change my gender marker at the SSA. It did not matter that it says female on my DL.

Whether or not you need to change your name with the SSA before you change it on your DL depends on the state and whether or not the state's system is "connected" to the SSA's.

At least in GA, (name change) I should have done the SSA first but I didn't. GA hands you this paper temp DL and the SSA wouldn't accept it. All I needed at the SSA would have been my old DL and the court papers. Instead I had to wait months to get the SSA waiting for my "real" DL to arrive.

On the "work" problem, the SSA no longer flags or reports if the gender marker on paperwork from an employer doesn't match what's in their system so it should never be an issue.

Unfortunatly GA is one of the "red states" that requires surgery just to have my gender marker changed on my DL so it's a moot point for me. That is another reason I wouldn't get a passport with an F on it, then I would have conflicting ID's. Maybe at some point the feds will step in and fix this hodge podge of requirements the different states have for DL and birth certificate changes.

Ok, lest break them down:

1) Name change: get a name change order from your county or city court, go to the SSA with the court order and have you ss card changed. Once you get your new card, go to the DMV with your new ss card and the court order.


2) Gender change: get a letter from your doctor stating "you have completed your transition from M to F. Go to the DMV with that letter to get your DL marker changed from M to F

3) If you want to change the gender marker on you ss card you most likely have to have a letter from a surgeon stating that you had SRS. Now, like Janet (Ms O'Brien) said, sometimes some clerks will let you change the marker with just an "orchi was performed" letter, and even in some busy location just the letter that states "..has completed transition from M to F" has doen the trick

4) For passport you has need the "..has completed transition from M to F" to change the gender marker, and the court order to change the name


Good luck!!!

This is in response to everybody's responses: I think it is sad and awful that we have to go through this confusing mound of paperwork. It honestly is like adding insult to injury. Here we are dealing with so much already and we have to pay outrages fees, wait months, go through tons of paperwork, driving from here to there just to be told things like, "you needed to do this first," or "we can't do that unless you have surgery you pry can't afford."

And why? So that we can legally be what we want to be. Why? Why must there be more suffering to what we already suffer. Embarrassment, accusations of identity theft, people not believing me when I tell them who I am, stares, insults, hate crimes, alienation, discrimination, what else?

I could say more, but I'm done as tears stream down my cheeks. It's just unnecessary ridicule we're forced to subject ourselves to in order to be "legal."

GENDER DOES NOT EQUAL SEX. Why does modifying my sex organs change my gender? Who (I was going to curse here but thought better of it) knows.

Quote from: Hippolover25 on December 19, 2012, 10:39:30 PM

GENDER DOES NOT EQUAL SEX. Why does modifying my sex organs change my gender? Who (I was going to curse here but thought better of it) knows.

I don't get it either. But if you look at which states have the most draconian gender laws, it's always the same states that are mostly run by right wing conservatives. As long as we continue to condone and support their behavior, it will be legal to discriminate against us.

Shawn Sunshine what state do you live in?

You can search your state + trans organization/group on google and see what comes up. I've been able to find organizations for some states that have links to "name/gender marker change kits" that tell you how to go about it step by step in that state.