The Two Documents That Trans Folks Should Update Right Away
Plus the documents I've updated
Hi everyone. Unfortunately we’ve now heard that all passport applications for a gender change or that had an X gender marker have now been put on hold. Please review this article from January 23 in the Guardian for reference of the current state. I am keeping the below article online, but please consider the statements about updating your passport as an archive.
I socially transitioned a little over a year ago. One of the things I focused on very early was updating my legal name. I started the process less than fifty days after I socially transitioned. I have three different articles posted about the process of updating my name (part 1, part 2, and Veronica Day on the emotional impact), and I plan to write more about this process. Once I updated my legal name, I aggressively updated a bunch of other documents. I'll get to all the things I've updated lower in the article. But right now, if you are trans and your gender marker is not currently what you want it to be with the US Federal government, now is the time to drop everything and get this done. There is still a window open but we can expect that it will be closing rapidly. If you have gender nonconforming people in your life, keep reading as checking in with them will show that you care about them and could make a huge difference in the quality of their life.
The process to follow right now will be different from how I updated my documents. That's because there's a cliff coming. It's a cliff where we should fully expect a roll back of gender self-declaration at the Federal government. This policy is set by the Executive Branch of the Federal government, and Joe Biden's administration implemented self declaration. So we should fully expect this to be rolled back when the new administration takes office, and it could be discontinued as early as day one, January 20, 2025.
If your name is not yet changed legally, but you know that you want a gender marker different than it is listed on your Federal documents, don't wait for your name to change legally. Just update your Federal gender marker now, and you can get your name updated later. This is critical and it defies conventional wisdom. But there is nothing conventional or wise about the incoming administration. The process to change your name legally is often lengthy, and it is likely you will not have time to change it before gender self-declaration is no longer an option on Federal documents. So, what are the documents that trans folks should update right away?
First, update your passport. The process right now is straight forward. Here's the link with the instructions. If you have never had a passport, you'll need to apply in person. I know in my area, we can go to a local library to apply (make sure to make an appointment if they accept them). If you've already had a passport and need to update the gender marker, you’ll send the documents in yourself. For both in person or sending them yourself, you will want to fill out the forms on the website and print them. In both cases, gender is via self declaration so make sure you fill this in correctly(M, F, or X). Due to how close we are to the new administration taking over, you'll want to expedite the process, which is 2-3 weeks plus the shipping time. That will cost you more, but you don’t want the rules changing while your passport is in process. I’d send the application in via express mail too.
Second, update your gender with social security. There is no gender listed on the card itself. So to do this, go to any social security office and self-declare your gender (M or F - X is not available unfortunately). This one just needs to happen before inauguration day. This is critical to ensure you update as this is what employers have to list your gender as for legal reasons.
For both of these areas, once you change your name (if you wish to do so), you'll simply come back to these two areas and update them again so your identity matches. It will be an additional fee for your passport. If you need help navigating these processes, there are a number of places that are helping. One is the Trans Federal Document Project (https://transdocproject.com).
There's one other area where the Federal government tracks your gender, and that's the Department of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, this is done through the real ID process on your state driver's license. So, you are at the mercy of your state laws on this one.
Once you’ve done these two to three urgent things, do the other updates at the pace you are comfortable going. I've updated a slew of information about myself in 2024 and I'm listing the key ones below. I think this list is very responsible for why I didn’t spend much time on my hobbies in 2024, as one of my main hobbies really was changing my name. Well, that and taking a lot more time to look put together each day. This is roughly the order that I updated my documents, but there's nothing magical about this list other than starting with the legal name change (again, do the gender marker on your federal documents first because of the dynamics of the new administration). In Illinois, state law requires that you update your Driver’s License within ten days of a legal name change, so that’s why that was second. I did a lot of my creditors right away because I didn't want to risk my credit getting trashed by having an additional identity created. Here's the full list of updates:
Court order of name change (note: there is no court order of gender change in Illinois as all documents are self-declaration - get a bunch of certified copies too)
Work
Driver's License w/ Real ID
Passport
Social Security
Bank account(s)
Credit cards
Investment accounts
Credit reporting agencies (I recommend not starting this process until ninety days after you update your primary bank information)
Mortgage
Home Insurance
Car Insurance
Car titles
Medical Insurance
Current hospital and medical systems
Utilities
Cell phone service including how the phone number is listed on caller ID
Birth Certificate
Kids' Birth Certificates
I still have a couple of things to update like our wills and our life insurance policies. It took a combination of a number of different factors that allowed me to update everything this quickly, and it's just not practical for most folks to go this fast (all of these updates happened in about seven months). A few of the factors as to why I could go so quickly are that once I realized that I needed to come out, I was out everywhere in less than ninety days. Most people would find this way too fast for them but I needed to put some distance between myself and when I couldn't see a path forward. I also have stable housing and I can afford many of the fees that come with so many of these updates. Lastly, I live in a state (Illinois) that has gender self-declaration for both a driver's license and birth certificate, and I was also born in the state that I live. That's a lot that lined up for me and the only real delay was with my legal name itself.
As far as I know, social security is binary gender markers only - there’s no X option sadly. I just checked again and that’s still the case
TY for this update!
I have been on a green card for more than 5 years.
This has made my citizenship application less complicated.
The citizenship application allows me to self identify as female and change my name, & also has the option to update my Social Security info.
I am also in the process of changing my name & gender in my home country on my birth cert & passport.
I will check with my lawyer about how changing my gender marker with Social Security might affect the already submitted citizenship application.
Again: TY!