For a little bit of background on the situation, I grew up in West Virginia and moved to Saint Paul (Minnesota) when I turned eighteen.
All that being said, I've never felt uncomfortable here. This is typically a pretty liberal state and I've encountered no issues transitioning.
... Until today.
I finally had my court date today to have my name and gender marker changed. This was a huge deal to me as I have passed completely for several months now and have been unable to use either my ID or CC. Needless to say, I was stoked; everyone I'd spoken to said the process was fairly straightforward and pain-free.
The day started out normal enough--we all sat in the crowded courtroom and watched case after case go by--but as soon as it was left to the last three cases (the trans individuals), he grouped us all together in the jury box.
The judge spent approximately twenty minutes talking to all of us about how he wasn't sure he should have the legal authority to change gender. Apparently, he had recently been struggling with interpreting the language in the current statute as meaning that it can only be changed within the first few months following the individual's birth (so as to correct 'mistakes' regarding paternity, clerical errors, etc.) and not later in life.
He had mentioned that he had been approving these cases left and right over the last eight months and had only just decided to re-evaluate his position.
We (myself and the two others) had to sit and offer up examples, situations and general life issues we were repeatedly encountering by having our legal forms not match up with our correct gender. I felt myself getting progressively more pissed the longer I sat there; I was shaking and clenching my jaw about as tight as humanely possible.
After deliberating for what seemed like forever, he stated that though he may still rule that he could no longer perform gender changes, he was going to make an exception for the three of us.
Everyone let out a huge gasp and started bawling. I just sat there feeling pissed, frustrated and relieved.
To be fair, I got the feeling from this judge that he, himself, was actually quite understanding and liberal. The 'judge' side of him just started to over-analyze the language and lose sight of the humanity.
I clarified with him that the ruling wouldn't/couldn't be rescinded and he confirmed it was permanent.
He mentioned something about it essentially being the 'luck of the draw' with whatever judge is pre-assigned to you for your hearing as some are 100% for it and others are staunchly against it. I think this is completely and utterly disgusting.
I just wanted to post this as a possible warning to others. If your judge is on the fence, prepare yourself to essentially have to beg for your existence.
