A Journey Through My Legal Transition by Angela Deren

The legal part of one's transitional process is a significant step. By this point, you already know who you are, but in the records of the state and national government your old information is all they have. I wanted my transition to go as smoothly as possible so I took a couple of shortcuts, such as self-medicating hormones while I was still presenting myself as male. I wanted to be sure that when I was full time, I'd already have some help passing. I handled my legal aspect in the exact same way. Although I was not exactly full-time yet, even when I was going by my androgynous male presentation, I would still get "her", "she", or "miss", from those who hadn't known me previously. My scheduled plan for going full-time was during May 2006 so I wanted to have as much of my legal aspects out of the way beforehand. Researching my state's rules for such things as the name change and driver's license were very important to my feeling confident before having to go in front of any judge or clerk. My therapist also was more than willing to write me any letters I would need to assist me.

In April 2006, after printing and filling out my forms and setting a date with the probate court, the day finally arrived. My anticipated start of the most basic, yet fundamentally important, change that would set the other changes into motion was staring me in the face. My worries, in retrospect, were somewhat ridiculous, that I would have a problem that would deny me this very first step and doom me for more failure for my additional changes. However, the judge was very nice, going through the motions of what she legally needed to establish before she could authorize my new name. In Connecticut, you can change your name as long as your intentions aren't for the purpose of fraud. I left exuberantly, knowing that now I could begin to change my name everywhere else, from distinctively important places such as my driver's license to much smaller places such as my Netflix subscription.

Next, the driver's license was essential since it is the most often presented documentation to prove name, age, and sex. I knew that in accordance with my state's laws that if I had the letter from my therapist saying I was full-time, they'd have to change it. If I could just get my "M" changed to "F" in one place I was positive the rest of my changes would flow much easier. When it came time to go to the DMV, my mom offered to accompany me, waiting in line for what I once again irrationally feared would be a setback. I was going not only to change my name but my marked sex, something I had heard countless other girls prove unsuccessful at. After waiting in line and finally reaching the teller, I told her what I was there for and she consulted her manager several times making sure she could do such a request. They overlooked the letter a couple times and accepted it. Another victory.

My social security and birth certificate change were done in the same day and once again my mom asked if I'd want her to accompany me. It couldn't hurt; strength in numbers would be very helpful if a problem at either place would arise. Social security had me even more worried than the rest since I had heard that changes had been made under the Bush administration and it was harder to get it changed. Plus I had a friend whose place of employment got an unpleasant letter from the government letting them know that her social security records didn't match her work papers. The lady behind the window was very apprehensive, but I showed how my driver's license had been changed and showed her my therapist's letter as well. She mulled it over a bit and then made the proper changes. I was extremely happy to know that I would be able to apply for future jobs without the worry of them knowing my birth gender (if I am passable enough not to know by looking at me or hearing me talk). Overall, my legal transition was a remarkable success, completed in just over two weeks.

Angela Deren May 28, 2006