Transgender people are rushing to get passports

by Rob Howard
Associate Editor

“So many transgender people struggle with things that so many of us don’t even think about,” said Georgie Russell, an Oklahoma transgender woman who spoke with The Gaylyabout the importance of identity documents. She particularly mentioned the importance of a passport that has their gender marker indicating their gender identity.

In June 2010 the US State Department revised its policy for changing the gender marker on US passports. It was an important change for transgender people because it removed the requirement of having had gender reassignment surgery.

The new policy adopted the updated standards of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). Those standards require only that a person has “undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition.”

Now, many transgender activists are urging transgender people to apply for a passport, or renew their current one, before Donald Trump takes office on January 20. They consider the matter urgent because Trump said during the campaign that he plans to overturn every executive action of the Obama administration. The passport gender policy was an administrative action, although it was issued by the State Department, not by the White House.

Russell said having the correct gender on their passport makes it easier for people going overseas for gender reassignment surgery. “If they are going overseas for surgery they don’t need to play 20 questions [with customs officers],” she said. She had gender reassignment surgery 10 years ago in Colorado, where she was treated well.

“But I have heard that in Thailand people going there for surgery are treated like Kings and Queens,” said Russell. To go outside the US for surgery, you need a passport; the current policy makes it easy to have a passport that conforms to your gender identity.

Gianna, the moderator of Freedom Oklahoma Trans.com, agreed with the importance of appropriate identity documents. “I’m changing my gender on my driver’s license by court order on Friday,” she said. “In the state of Oklahoma the law states that you have to have surgery, but there is precedence of changing it by court order.” She hopes to be the fourth person in the state to do that.

She has no interest in having a passport. As for the worry that Trump will change the State Department policy, she said, “Hopefully the checks and balances won’t allow it to impair our rights.” But she believes that having a driver’s license with a photo and a gender marker that is the same as your appearance is important. “It means you are less likely to be harassed or misgendered,” she said.

Many states still require that a trans person have gender reassignment surgery to revise ID documents.

The WPATH standards “are based on the best available science and expert professional consensus,” according to the organization’s website.

Since winning the election, Trump’s promise has changed slightly to overturning every “unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.” The Trump transition team has not provided specifics on which orders will be immediately overturned.

Nevertheless, faced with even the possibility of losing the ability to get an important ID document that is congruent with a person’s gender identity, many trans people are rushing to get a passport while they can under the existing rule.

To apply for your first passport, you need to apply in person with a US Passport Application, an identity document, such as a driver’s license, that shows your current appearance, a photocopy of that document, and a color photograph meeting department specifications that shows your current appearance. Passports currently cost $135.

In addition, to indicate your gender identity if it is different from your citizenship documents or your previous passport, you need a medical certification.

The State Department webpage on passport gender says, “A signed, original statement from a licensed physician must be on office letterhead” and include specific language for it to be accepted by the Department. Even if all of your domestic documents have been updated, you still need to have a medical certification.

Detailed information and FAQs on the documents needed for obtaining a new or renewed passport, including the specific wording needed on the medical certification, are at www.tinyurl.com/hx28syj.

Russell summed it up, saying, “If you present a passport that shows the gender you identify with, it’s just so much better. It adds legitimacy to how you really feel.”

Copyright 2016 The Gayly – December 27, 2016 @ 10:20 a.m.