The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy that blocks transgender and nonbinary Americans from choosing passport sex markers that match their gender identity. The ruling, issued by the court’s conservative majority, marks another legal victory for Trump on the high court’s emergency docket. It
Dang, was hoping to slip mine in once my name change is done and birth certificate is updated with name and gender. But I’ve heard the social security administration no longer allows gender changes for their records and that of there is a discrepancy between social security and birth certificate then passports and enhanced driver’s licenses will be denied. Guess no flying to see family or vacation which I haven’t done in since before COVID, at least until the supreme court dies off. And no chance to flee the country as it’s looking like we might need to some day soon.
I’m currently in the process of doing this myself; I have appointments later this month, but my understanding is that the SSA verification that the DMV/DoL uses only matches name, SSN, and date of birth. So long as your name is consistent on all documents, OR you provide proof of a name change (or every name change you have underwent if you’ve had multiple), then my understanding (after talking with an identity specialist for my state’s DoL) is that you can apply for an enhanced driver’s license. This page corroborates that idea. You will still need to provide all identifying documents in addition to your proof of name change, of course: proof of citizenship, proof of legal name (this is your court ordered name change(s)), proof of identity (with a photograph), and 2 distinctly different documents for proof of address (you can use your driver’s license and a recent bank statement, for instance). The EDL will allow you to select the correct gender, as far as my understanding goes (note that there may be something I’m misunderstanding, and rules may vary by state). The SSA’s gender marker doesn’t really get used for anything, so it’s essentially pointless data anyway. Granted, it would still be nice if it matched our actual identity, but unfortunately I don’t see that changing in the next 3 years. I was going to get a passport with an Orr v. Trump attestation until I read this news yesterday, and now I’m planning on getting an enhanced driver’s license instead, as I only plan on going to Canada for the time being. I’d rather have a document that accurately reflects my identity than one that does not, after all.
Thanks. Definitely hoping the enhanced driver’s license isn’t an issue. I have to get a totally new license since my name change is sealed. And I had read in one state someone did have an issue with it, but my state seems to be less strict as well, as far as I can tell. I had originally thought it was the federal government that approved the ID and so it would be the same for everyone, but it looks like it’s the state that does it themselves using federal data sources, and many do it differently than others. So that’s definitely positive. I’m not as hopeful for the passport change, but well see how it goes. And my birth state is now fairly conservative due to gerrymandering, so I’ve heard birth certificate changes can take a long time due to needing the letter from the doctor about bottom surgery to be just right depending on how anti-trans the processor is, for the gender marker change. Plus long wait times to go to the SSA office for that and that has to happen after the birth certificate. So maybe by the time all of that is done, someone will have found a new workaround.
Dang, was hoping to slip mine in once my name change is done and birth certificate is updated with name and gender. But I’ve heard the social security administration no longer allows gender changes for their records and that of there is a discrepancy between social security and birth certificate then passports and enhanced driver’s licenses will be denied. Guess no flying to see family or vacation which I haven’t done in since before COVID, at least until the supreme court dies off. And no chance to flee the country as it’s looking like we might need to some day soon.
Feels like they are trying to shut as many doors as possible before things turn to explicit danger for trans folks
I’m currently in the process of doing this myself; I have appointments later this month, but my understanding is that the SSA verification that the DMV/DoL uses only matches name, SSN, and date of birth. So long as your name is consistent on all documents, OR you provide proof of a name change (or every name change you have underwent if you’ve had multiple), then my understanding (after talking with an identity specialist for my state’s DoL) is that you can apply for an enhanced driver’s license. This page corroborates that idea. You will still need to provide all identifying documents in addition to your proof of name change, of course: proof of citizenship, proof of legal name (this is your court ordered name change(s)), proof of identity (with a photograph), and 2 distinctly different documents for proof of address (you can use your driver’s license and a recent bank statement, for instance). The EDL will allow you to select the correct gender, as far as my understanding goes (note that there may be something I’m misunderstanding, and rules may vary by state). The SSA’s gender marker doesn’t really get used for anything, so it’s essentially pointless data anyway. Granted, it would still be nice if it matched our actual identity, but unfortunately I don’t see that changing in the next 3 years. I was going to get a passport with an Orr v. Trump attestation until I read this news yesterday, and now I’m planning on getting an enhanced driver’s license instead, as I only plan on going to Canada for the time being. I’d rather have a document that accurately reflects my identity than one that does not, after all.
Thanks. Definitely hoping the enhanced driver’s license isn’t an issue. I have to get a totally new license since my name change is sealed. And I had read in one state someone did have an issue with it, but my state seems to be less strict as well, as far as I can tell. I had originally thought it was the federal government that approved the ID and so it would be the same for everyone, but it looks like it’s the state that does it themselves using federal data sources, and many do it differently than others. So that’s definitely positive. I’m not as hopeful for the passport change, but well see how it goes. And my birth state is now fairly conservative due to gerrymandering, so I’ve heard birth certificate changes can take a long time due to needing the letter from the doctor about bottom surgery to be just right depending on how anti-trans the processor is, for the gender marker change. Plus long wait times to go to the SSA office for that and that has to happen after the birth certificate. So maybe by the time all of that is done, someone will have found a new workaround.