This would be called "bad."
May. 27th, 2004 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdThis is a bad thing. It appears to be nationwide, too. If you or someone you care about is preop or nonop TS or TG, this is anywhere from terribly inconvenient to disastrous.
I'm not sure where to start, but maybe writing your federal legislators would be good.
----- Forwards deleted -----
Dear trans people and allies,
I recently discovered something about which only those who have already been personally affected seem to be aware. Please pass this on to anyone who might need or want to know this information.
Prior to 2004, and even in the early stages of the implementation of new policies, the RMV/DMV was relatively lax in some cases. Trans people who passed as their affirmed sex could sneak in under the radar and get the sex designation of their choice listed on their Mass. state IDs and driver's licenses. However, starting in January, this happened:
http://www.mass.gov/rmv//rmvnews/2004/ssnotices.htm
(Discrepancies in the sex designation field, while not specifically addressed on the web site, HAVE caused several trans people to receive letters demanding that they surrender their IDs for ones with their birth sex designation or face criminal charges of identification fraud.)
When the RMV went online with the Social Security Administration, their databases were synched. This means that the RMV officials are supposed to check all of your information prior to giving you the initial ID. Even if they fail to do that, the RMV is running systematic checks on all new and expiring IDs/licenses to check for discrepancies with your SS file.
Unfortunately, in order to change the sex designation in your SS file, you need a surgeon's letter stating completion of sexual reassignment surgery- this means genital surgery for MTFs and hysterectomy/oophorectomy or genital surgery for FTMs, NOT chest surgery.
Sometimes, people get lucky and get their designation changed with an ambiguous physician's letter stating that they have had "irreversible medical treatment for the purposes of sexual reassignment". HOWEVER, the aforementioned situation does not reflect official SS policy. The SSA can and usually will require a detailed description of the specific surgical procedure that have been performed. They are, according to people with whom I have spoken, even more rigid about this since 9/11. Moreover, people who are fortunate enough to have been able to obtain a state ID or driver's license stating their affirmed sex are now being asked to surrender those identifications or face criminal charges. This is apparently a nationwide policy change that has affected trans people in CA, MA, and other places.
People who have been stealth and on hormones for years are now facing a situation in which they will suddenly be unable to get credit, open a bank account, get/seek a new job, purchase alcohol products, take a plane or interstate bus, purchase a vehicle, get insurance, apply for health care or medical insurance, etc. Basically, their status will be will worse than that of some illegal aliens. If you think this is a major problem and a major infringement of trans people's basic human rights, it is.
Do something about it. Pass this on. Share it with journalists and lawyers who care. Explain to friends and allies exactly why this creates an unlivable, unworkable situation for trans people living in the United States."
Anyone w/ more info or who wants to strategize contact either one of us. I've alerted Zak from the BAR. I got the dread letter Colt refers to a few weeks ago from the head DMV office in Sacramento after successfully receiving a CA License w/ an 'M' designation. They said my petition for name/gender change would be revoked due to incomplete info even tho my DR at Tom Waddell designated me as Male and my reassignment 'complete' on the CA DMV Name and Gender Change Form DL328. The word 'hormonal' as opposed to 'surgical' and my SS records contradicting the 'M' w/ their 'F' seems enough to scew me.
My license expires at the end of this month and I'm afraid to renew and potentially be outed and turned down. Especially because I am now in Durham, NC and will have to surrender my CA License while awaiting my NC one.
in solidarity,
-Anderson Toone
I'm not sure where to start, but maybe writing your federal legislators would be good.
----- Forwards deleted -----
Dear trans people and allies,
I recently discovered something about which only those who have already been personally affected seem to be aware. Please pass this on to anyone who might need or want to know this information.
Prior to 2004, and even in the early stages of the implementation of new policies, the RMV/DMV was relatively lax in some cases. Trans people who passed as their affirmed sex could sneak in under the radar and get the sex designation of their choice listed on their Mass. state IDs and driver's licenses. However, starting in January, this happened:
http://www.mass.gov/rmv//rmvnews/2004/ssnotices.htm
(Discrepancies in the sex designation field, while not specifically addressed on the web site, HAVE caused several trans people to receive letters demanding that they surrender their IDs for ones with their birth sex designation or face criminal charges of identification fraud.)
When the RMV went online with the Social Security Administration, their databases were synched. This means that the RMV officials are supposed to check all of your information prior to giving you the initial ID. Even if they fail to do that, the RMV is running systematic checks on all new and expiring IDs/licenses to check for discrepancies with your SS file.
Unfortunately, in order to change the sex designation in your SS file, you need a surgeon's letter stating completion of sexual reassignment surgery- this means genital surgery for MTFs and hysterectomy/oophorectomy or genital surgery for FTMs, NOT chest surgery.
Sometimes, people get lucky and get their designation changed with an ambiguous physician's letter stating that they have had "irreversible medical treatment for the purposes of sexual reassignment". HOWEVER, the aforementioned situation does not reflect official SS policy. The SSA can and usually will require a detailed description of the specific surgical procedure that have been performed. They are, according to people with whom I have spoken, even more rigid about this since 9/11. Moreover, people who are fortunate enough to have been able to obtain a state ID or driver's license stating their affirmed sex are now being asked to surrender those identifications or face criminal charges. This is apparently a nationwide policy change that has affected trans people in CA, MA, and other places.
People who have been stealth and on hormones for years are now facing a situation in which they will suddenly be unable to get credit, open a bank account, get/seek a new job, purchase alcohol products, take a plane or interstate bus, purchase a vehicle, get insurance, apply for health care or medical insurance, etc. Basically, their status will be will worse than that of some illegal aliens. If you think this is a major problem and a major infringement of trans people's basic human rights, it is.
Do something about it. Pass this on. Share it with journalists and lawyers who care. Explain to friends and allies exactly why this creates an unlivable, unworkable situation for trans people living in the United States."
Anyone w/ more info or who wants to strategize contact either one of us. I've alerted Zak from the BAR. I got the dread letter Colt refers to a few weeks ago from the head DMV office in Sacramento after successfully receiving a CA License w/ an 'M' designation. They said my petition for name/gender change would be revoked due to incomplete info even tho my DR at Tom Waddell designated me as Male and my reassignment 'complete' on the CA DMV Name and Gender Change Form DL328. The word 'hormonal' as opposed to 'surgical' and my SS records contradicting the 'M' w/ their 'F' seems enough to scew me.
My license expires at the end of this month and I'm afraid to renew and potentially be outed and turned down. Especially because I am now in Durham, NC and will have to surrender my CA License while awaiting my NC one.
in solidarity,
-Anderson Toone
