Jump to content
  • Welcome to the TransPulse Forums!

    We offer a safe, inclusive community for transgender and gender non-conforming folks, as well as their loved ones, to find support and information.  Join today!

Out of State Gender and Name Change


TrIIIy

Recommended Posts

I live in Mississippi but was born in California. Mississippi is completely bass-ackwards when it comes to changing your gender marker; they literally do not have a form for it. So, while I can get my name legally changed here, it seems that I need to change my gender marker through a California court. I found some resources on how to do this, but nobody is answering phones at the courthouses in California right now because of Rona. I’m not expecting anyone to know offhand exactly how, but I will think I need to amend my birth certificate in order to get my gender marker legally changed. I have no idea how much this will cost or how to send my paperwork (notarized?) all the way there without talking to someone at the courthouse first. 
Does anyone have any advice at all on this?

Thanks!

 

Trey

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

I am a CA girl, and changed my birth cert from that state, while living out of state. All I needed was a Doctor's letter stating I had completed gender transition and providing the new name court document and it was only like $24 per certified copy as I recall. I did it all by mail from here in WA state.

 

In theory, you could change your name first in MS state court, then use that and a Dr's letter to change the info (name / gender) on the CA birth certificate afterwards.

 

Here is the CA vital records link on how to amend your record, hope this helps....

 

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/Pages/Correcting-or-Amending-Vital-Records.aspx

Link to comment

Similar situation for me. Born in Illinois but haven't lived their since I was young. Just needed my doctor sign off on one of the forms provided by the state  of Illinois that I had undergone some form of GCS. Sent it to the appropriate department in Illinois with a certified copy of my name change paperwork. I requested 2 certified copies of the amended birth certificate which I received about 2 weeks later.

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

So, I have a question, I was born in Ohio.  Ohio won’t change a birth certificate.  So how do you get a gender marker changed in that circumstance?  Will states change your name and drivers license without a revised or otherwise adjusted birth certificate?  What about a passport?

 

Willow

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator
1 hour ago, Willow said:

So, I have a question, I was born in Ohio.  Ohio won’t change a birth certificate.  So how do you get a gender marker changed in that circumstance?  Will states change your name and drivers license without a revised or otherwise adjusted birth certificate?  What about a passport?

 

Willow

 

You are going to have to check the regulations in the state where you live.  If they will let you change things like driver's license and other ID, then your birth certificate is not that important.

 

Where I live, you could change your gender on your provincial ID - driver's license and health card - no problem as long as you changed your birth certificate first.  With my British birth certificate, the Brits were happy to change it provided I gave them evidence that I had changed my gender locally first.  Catch 22.  Chicken and egg. 

 

I did some lobbying, and they finally changed the regulations here last year, so I was able to get a local gender-change certificate that allowed me to change my other provincial ID.

 

Since each jurisdiction is different, you have to see what your local regulations allow.  If they don't have a process other than getting your birth certificate changed first, you are out of luck.  If they have something like the new procedure where I live, then there might be a way forward.

Link to comment

Well, I can’t get ahold of anyone at the California clerk’s office, so I can’t proceed with the birth certificate yet. I called Mississippi vital records, and someone there advised me to edit my petition for legal name change into a petition for gender marker change. They said that several people have had success with that. I could possibly get my gender marker on my driver’s license changed with that. It’s at least $150 to file that with the court, though, so I’m having a lawyer friend of the family take a look at the petition beforehand so I don’t waste my money. I’d hate to file the petition and then not have it granted.

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...

Hoo boy...

 

After months of research, preparation, saving, and waiting, I finally went before a judge last week to try to get my gender marker changed on my ID. Long story short, my request was denied. The judge said that this was because she couldn’t just write a court order for me to give to different agencies (like the DMV). She said that each agency involved has to be party to the request. Apparently, I have to have a separate court order for each one along with other necessary paperwork filed through the chancery court.
 

The judge advised me to hire a lawyer, but there is no way that I can afford to do that. I just left a message with the Mississippi ACLU. I just don’t know where to go from here.

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

That's a pain, @TrIIIy!

 

According to this (https://transequality.org/documents/state/mississippi), you wouldn't use the court order for various agencies like the DMV.  You'd get the court order just for Vital Records, and use that plus a medical statement to get your birth certificate changed.  Then, you should be able to use your updated birth certificate to get everything else changed.

 

If you weren't born in Mississippi, you would contact whatever state you were born in to change your birth certificate, and then take that to the various agencies.

Link to comment

@KathyLaurenThat’s my understanding now as well. I have tried calling the California court, but they have been out of the office for quite some time due to the pandemic. I’ll just have to wait until they open again to get the information that I need to proceed with a birth certificate amendment.

Link to comment
  • Admin

@TrIIIySince it is a California Birth Certificate you need to change, go here:

 

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/Pages/Correcting-or-Amending-Vital-Records.aspx

 

I got my CA Birth Certificate amended simply by going to this web site of the Department of Public Health, Vital Records.  They have a how-to pamphlet and the forms on line here.

Link to comment

@VickySGV does that work for people who live outside of California?

 

The judge I saw didn’t know anything about amending birth certificates out of state, and the website says that I need a court order.

Link to comment
  • Admin

@TrIIIyYour name change order from your current state can be used for that purpose to amend your CA birth certificate.  Except in very rare circumstances Judgments ( Orders ) must be accepted by Sister States per U.S. Constitution and this type of order is no problem to us here in CA.  Since Jan. 01, 2020 the gender issue is met with a doctor's statement that you have taken irreversible steps to change your gender.  That should have been in a booklet that is downloadable from the link I sent you.  In my case I had had surgery at the time, but it is no longer necessary for the BC change. 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Who's Online   3 Members, 0 Anonymous, 148 Guests (See full list)

    • Heather Shay
    • April Marie
    • Petra Jane
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      80.6k
    • Total Posts
      768.2k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      12,020
    • Most Online
      8,356

    Tami
    Newest Member
    Tami
    Joined
  • Today's Birthdays

    1. Bebhar
      Bebhar
      (41 years old)
    2. caelensmom
      caelensmom
      (40 years old)
    3. Jani
      Jani
      (70 years old)
    4. Jessicapitts
      Jessicapitts
      (37 years old)
    5. klb046
      klb046
      (30 years old)
  • Posts

    • April Marie
      Wearing a dress is so freeing!
    • April Marie
      Good morning, everyone! I've finally pretty much finished with this head cold. I actually got 5.5 hours of straight sleep last night without taking any cold medication...or waking up to pee. I feel amazingly rested!!   Oh, @Willow, you are in my thoughts and prayers that your throat issue becomes less of a problem over time and not more.   I'm, hopefully, going to get our grass cut today. It takes me somewhere between 2.5 and 3 hours on the zero turn mower but the ground is still so wet that I'll have to slow down a bit. At least it's supposed to be sunny and around 60.   Have a wonderful day!!
    • April Marie
      This is all such wonderful news!!!! I can feel the happiness in your words.
    • VickySGV
      We have had some real dillies come out as the initiative sort of thing, but as @Carolyn Marie said, very few make it out of the petition signing seasons.  I am not surprised at the origin site of this thing, it is probably one of only 3 regressive leaning counties we have in the state. We actually had one of these initiatives started to make it mandatory for police to shoot dead on site any Gay behaving individuals wherever they found them.  For the most part the matters are poorly written in ways to be unenforceable even if enacted.  Thus most never become law or get to the voters.
    • Carolyn Marie
      You make some good points, AYS.  But there are usually already too many ballot propositions each election, so the proponents know it's best to wrap it all up into a nice package.  Plus, it's easier for the signature gatherers.  Otherwise they have to have a separate clipboard for each proposition.  Too much paperwork, dontcha know?   This kind of proposition is a loser in CA, so the only possible way the proponents can succeed is to give it the scariest title imaginable and try to put one over on the voters before they get wise.  Bottom line; an ice cube on a hot summer sidewalk has a better chance of success.   Carolyn Marie
    • awkward-yet-sweet
      Reading that article, it seems like the attorney general gets to call it whatever unless its an outright lie.  Given the nature of politics in CA, it seems like one side has the bully pulpit for sure.  Labeling it "Restricts Rights" vs "Protects Kids" is very much a matter of perspective.  Unfortunately, that matters since many voters don't bother to read.  Perhaps a better (unbiased) way to handle it would be to simply give the ballot measure a number with no title, forcing folks to read it.    I think it would have been better to handle the various issues covered by the ballot measure separately, rather than all at once.  For example, issues relating to disclosure of medical and social information to parents.  That could be its own ballot measure, rather than lumped in with everything else.  Besides, shorter and more succinct measures are more likely to be read completely. 
    • Carolyn Marie
      https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/04/trans-youth/     Yup, the existing title sound perfectly appropriate and accurate to me, too.   Carolyn Marie
    • Adrianna Danielle
      Seen my hrt specialist this morning and nothing but good news,estrogen levels looked good.Boyfriend was with me and I admit he has been learning well about my transition showing his support.Our relationship is going great and we both see each other much happier now.
    • Abigail Genevieve
      This reminded me of an individual who, due to child sexual abuse, lived as a woman for 15 years, detransitioned and noisily insists that all trans people have his story.  His name comes up fairly often because it fits the narrative.   I don't know that anyone actually has been railroaded.  People may say it, they may look back at what happened and decide that happened.  It's a he said / she said, but it feeds a narrative that is useful for those who are already convinced that trans people are abuse victims first and foremost.  That the detransition rate is so low tells me that railroading is not actually a problem, and I regret giving the impression that I thought it was.  That so few detransition is a success story.   What is pertitent at heart is that people hear and believe all the stories out there, and the story we have to tell is not heard, because TG folk are, after all, untrustworthy in their view and unworthy of an audience.  Somehow it needs to get out there as to what the real situation is. 
    • Ashley0616
    • Ashley0616
      I'm not saying that Christianity is wrong but at the same time there were more than 30,000 changes to it. The Bible doesn't state anything against transgender. The only point that can be proven by them is that people are giving into their desire. 1 John 2:15-17 ESV "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." I would love to challenge them by asking who watches a movie, reads books, and listens to music that isn't Christian based because then they would be guilty as well. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Probably not a single hand would still stand that they don't participate in everything they do gives glory to God. "
    • VickySGV
      My neighboring state got lucky a couple years ago. 
    • VickySGV
      https://www.wpath.org/soc8   I had been looking for this to respond to a member and could not find it .  Pinning it for now.
    • VickySGV
      @Abigail GenevieveSomewhere in the Forums here, we have a link to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's Standards Of Care, now at revision 8 but it is available in plenty of places.   https://www.wpath.org/soc8.    These are the canons for the allied medical fields that deal with Trans people and are the guidance for those professionals.  I personally know members of the Association and have toyed with the idea of becoming an associate member since I am not a medical professional but because I like to keep on top of what is going on medically.  There are a number of Trans people who think they are overly oppressive as far as the gatekeeping goes, but the medical / psychological profession members who follow these guidelines for there patients WILL NOT be forcing their patients into unneeded or harmful surgery or medications.  I read my first pitiful and heart-rending  "detransitioning" story 60 years ago when I snuck a tabloid newspaper behind a comic book down at the neighborhood convenience store when I was 16 years old and reading it off the rack which should have been adult only.  I am afraid that it was the first thing I ever read that told me about Trans and Transsexual people, it would be another 30 years before I actually figured out my own story.  The story I later found out, was NOT written by a Trans person, but a well known Porn scribbler who wrote many fantastic and gory stories about what he thought Trans people were.  We are not anything like his imagination, but he was a "press agent" for Trans people of the time.  We do have some well known and noisy, negative view Detransitioners who have been found to have gone to multiple psychologists and lied their way Transitioning, one of the most infamous actually hid Dissociative Identity Disorder, right therapist wrong Identity that was being counseled.  It is a messy story.  The public, like my first encounter, was NOT getting their information from the scientific journals of the time, they were getting it from Adult Entertainment and Tabloids   We need to be careful of where we get some of our ideas from. Evidence is good that the person at the heart of this thread gets most of his information from us from the slanted and non-scientific sources most people get theirs.   OOPs, I( may have sent this off track here, but but but.    
    • Ivy
  • Upcoming Events

Contact TransPulse

TransPulse can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: Click Here.

To report an error on this page.

Legal

Your use of this site is subject to the following rules and policies, whether you have read them or not.

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Community Rules

Hosting

Upstream hosting for TransPulse provided by QnEZ.

Sponsorship

Special consideration for TransPulse is kindly provided by The Breast Form Store.
×
×
  • Create New...