The DMV Needs to be Updated

Getting one’s gender marker changed on his or her state ID can be a rather trying experience.  Altering documents does not seem like a big deal, but institution will make an individual jump through a lot of hoops just to get.  The Department of Motor Vehicles is the absolute worst when changing one’s gender marker. 

The DMV gave me an extremely tough time when I went to change my gender marker.  I live in the state of Maryland.  The DMV has not updated its policy on transgender individuals since the year 1999.  In order to get my gender marker changed on my state ID, three different letters had to be reviewed by the Medical Advisory Board.  I had to write my own letter requesting that my gender marker be changed.  The advisory board required that I have a letter from my gender therapist as well as doctor.  Getting the letters was not the hard part.  The biggest issue that I had with the DMV was that the advisory board took a month to review three letters that were only about three paragraphs each.  Every time I called the DMV back, the representative that I spoke to could not find any notes in the system regarding my case.  I stopped calling the DMV after two weeks.  I eventually received a letter in the mail form the advisory board saying that it had granted my desire to change my gender marker on my ID, 

The DMV needs to update their standards regarding the transgender population.  I had my birth certificate with me when I got a new ID with the corrected name on it.  The DMV should have changed everything then.  There should be no problem regarding the gender marker when other legal documents are presented to back up the claim.  There was no reason for me to have three letters just to change one part of a state ID.  Why did it take one month for the advisory board to come to a decision about my gender marker?  I do not know what is so confusing about someone wanting to change his or her legal identification information.  The procedure for changing any kind of document should go smoothly in this day and age.  People change everything about themselves.  Altering a gender marker is no longer something that is considered “strange” by most people. 

Hopefully the Department of Motor Vehicles changes its policy regarding transgender individuals in the future.  It will probably be a long wait before this day finally arrives.  It is sad that a major institution is stuck twenty years or more in the past.  The DMV needs to be put on a crash course in order to catch up with the times.  

A Positive Approach to Fighting for Transgender Rights

The dust has settled in regards to Donald Trump’s ruling on the rights of transgender individuals.  I already spoke about how this outcome could potentially affect business owners as well as everyone else.  Now I want to speak about the steps transgender individuals can take in order fight back against an unjust president. 

The first step that should be undertaken is to get all of one’s legal matters straightened out as soon as possible.  It is understandable that some states still make it difficult for those who wish to change their names and gender markers on documents that show identification.  An individual should do what he or she can to get everything changed before the laws get any worse.  Pressure can be good thing sometimes because it forces people to be vigilant about what they truly care about.  My job is what prompted me to legalize the changes that I was making.  If the pressure from my employer had not pushed me to live more authentically, then I might have still been too afraid to have done anything at all. 

The next step that one can take that one can take to combat Trump’s reversal of rights is to join groups in different fields of knowledge.  Marches are not going to do too much except express outrage and anger.  Joining groups in the legal, medical, and technological fields would be a better use of people’s time and resources.  Getting everyone’s stories out there in order to educate other will be a more tactful way that the transgender population can get all of their rights returned to them. 

The most crucial step that needs to be taken to ensure that laws regarding rights will include everyone is to stop fighting one another.   Some transgender people within the community like to police others on how to transition in the “proper” fashion.  No one needs to be fighting one another about who is truly transgender.  Everyone is in this together.  Transgender is an umbrella term.  This term includes crossdressers, drag queens, genderqueer, agender, bigender, transsexuals, and androgynous people.  One size does not fit all in the case of transgenderism.  There is no such thing as being “truly trans.”  People are either transgender, or they are not.  It is as simple as that.  The degree might vary from one person to another, but there is no such thing as being a fake transgender individual. 

If the entire country can begin to follow these three steps, then there will be no foothold for Trump’s ruling to take root.  The ruling will only have power if we remain divided as a nation.  If everyone comes together, then nothing negative will be able to have an impact on anyone.  Every person can choose what his or her destiny will be.  The hard part is having enough courage to stand by one’s convictions.    

Trump's Reversal of Transgender Rights Affects Everyone

Donald Trump has been President for a little over a month, and he caused quite a stir with the transgender community.  Trump rolled back the rights protecting transgender people from being discriminated against in public.  This means that any establishment can refuse to serve someone just because he or she decided to take steps in order to feel more comfortable in his or her skin.  The real question is going to be whether or not a lot of public places actually adhere to Trumps ruling. 

Owners of businesses now have the right to kick out any transgender person that he or she wants to without any consequences whatsoever.  Businesses operate off of income that they receive from the many different customers who pay good money in order to be serviced in some way.  If owners start to target a particular demographic of people that frequents their businesses, then this decision is going to play a role in how much money is made throughout the year.  Transgender people still use money as a way to get things that they desire.  If an owner of an establishment has a high percentage of customers who are transgender, then he or she might want to think twice before acting upon Trump's ruling.  Businesses will also lose the profit that will come from allies of transgender individuals as well.  The financial losses any business incurs will be a defining factor in whether or not it will stay afloat.   

Another question that is raised due to the legal change that has taken place is how does an individual tell who is transgender and who is not.  What does transgender even look like?  People look like people.  Gender congruent individuals can be mistaken for the opposite sex as well, so one cannot judge another person off of his or her looks alone.  In other words, there is no way possible to tell who identifies as transgender without knowing an individual’s personal background, so any business that tries to discriminate against anyone is definitely going to get hurt later down the road when its profits take a dive. 

Only time will tell what will happen regarding Donald Trump’s new ruling.  I highly doubt that most places will even consider discriminating against anybody due to the reasons state above.  No one knows for certain how everything is going to turn out, but the transgender community is not going to go down without a fight.