Gender and Name Changes Do More Than Affirm — They Save Lives
Why I changed my gender marker and what you need to know about ID laws in Michigan
In retrospect, what surprises me most is how quick it was.
When Illinois approved the addition of an X gender marker on state IDs in 2019, I wasn’t even entirely sure I wanted one. It seemed altogether too strong a statement for the gender knot I’d still just begun to untangle, but there was time before I’d need to decide — the Secretary of State cautioned that the option would take years to properly implement.
That’s okay, said my burgeoning gender crisis. I can wait.
I checked on the status of the availability of selecting the X option a couple of times a year at first, but less and less as it failed to yield results. By December of last year, when my driver’s license was due for renewal, all I had on my mind was how irritating it would be to trudge all the way downtown with a sheaf of personal documents in my bag.
But the day before my license expired, some fire of a dusty late-30s synapse prompted me to check on the gender marker’s progress again. Lo and behold, they’d finally started issuing X’s in March. Abruptly, the possibility of having one for myself was real, and it was directly in front of me.
I’d only just come out to my family over the summer. Donald Trump, with his explicitly anti-trans policy goals, was due to take office in six weeks.
Was now the time?
I was able to make the decision at the 11th hour because in Illinois, as it is in Michigan, it’s fairly simple (at the moment) to change your gender marker, if that’s all you plan on doing. You simply need to fill out and sign a form, which you submit at a Secretary of State’s office — no appointment needed. You can walk out that same day with an updated temporary license, and the new one on its way in the mail.
But I’m nonbinary, and I don’t have plans to change my name anytime soon. For Michigan trans people who need additional services, the process can get much more complicated. That’s why Julisa Abad, director of transgender outreach and advocacy at Fair Michigan, began hosting gender and name change clinics to guide her community through the process. The clinics began serving qualified trans people in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties four years ago, and by Abad’s count, she’s assisted with 616 name changes — to say nothing of the gender marker and birth certificate changes she’s facilitated as well. One challenge is keeping up with a constantly evolving legal landscape around gender marker and name changes.
Recent legislation signed into law by Gov. Whitmer marks significant progress for Michigan residents seeking to update their identity documents, though with important limitations for those specifically looking to change gender markers on state IDs. The new laws (introduced as House Bills 5300 and 5303) have streamlined the legal name change process by eliminating several barriers that previously affected transgender Michiganders, including removing requirements for fingerprint criminal background checks, newspaper publication of name change hearings and presumptions of fraud.
Additionally, the legislation replaces the outdated requirement for "sex reassignment surgery" to amend sex designations on birth certificates with a simpler self-attestation process. While these changes represent meaningful improvements for individuals who often pursue name changes alongside gender marker updates, it's important to note that companion bills (HBs 5301-5302) that would have specifically enshrined the right to amend gender markers on drivers' licenses and state IDs did not advance to the Governor's desk due to constitutional conflicts with another legislative package.
For Michigan residents navigating the gender marker change process, these legal name change improvements offer partial but significant relief, even as advocacy continues for comprehensive ID document updates.
“When I explain the process, I let everybody know that I take care of everything,” says Abad.
It’s a bolder statement than it might sound at first. The logistics of a Michigan name change, if it doesn’t relate to marriage or divorce, are intense. The process varies by county, but usually involves:
- Submitting a name change petition to the circuit court in your county. This costs $175, but you can apply to waive the cost (which takes more time, and requires notarization).
- Scheduling a court hearing.
- Attending your hearing and explaining why you want a name change.
- Gaining approval from the judge.
It’s a lot for anyone to tackle. But for Abad’s clientele, there are often extra hurdles.
“Because I help all populations, particularly trans women that live in poverty, some of those individuals don’t have a stable address,” Abad says, “or don’t have anything but a government assistance phone that sometimes doesn’t have minutes.”
Without an address to receive mail or a phone that can receive calls, Abad’s clients are at risk of missing important communication from their attorneys. Clinic attendees also represent a wide range of backgrounds and demographics, including immigrants and people of color, and that means some of her clients may face literacy barriers, lack reliable transportation or not live in affirming environments.
“Particularly in my community, people that are Black and brown and people of color, we are thrown out or don’t have family support from really, really young ages,” she says, which can make it all the harder to navigate a hostile system.
Even one hiccup can hold back a process that’s already painfully long.
“After they fill out the paperwork with me,” Abad says, “it usually takes anywhere from six to eight months for the process to be completed.”
Fair Michigan’s clinics were created to connect under-resourced trans people with no-cost guidance through this maze, including the help of sensitivity-trained, volunteer attorneys. And while the process may be arduous, the results, Abad says, are transformative.
“I know how hard it was,” Abad says, “to even navigate the trajectory of what that looked like for me, to have documentation that matched [my gender presentation]. I never realized how much easier, [more] affirming and safer my life would be having that documentation.”
She saw it in her own experience, and she sees it in the experience of clinic attendees as well. “I’ve had people cry, I’ve always had people be excited,” Abad says. “I’ve had people reach out and tell me how inspiring it is and want to give back to their community… To be able to see that with all of the people I’ve helped has been remarkable, inspiring and fulfilling.”
As for me, I made the choice to finally get my X gender marker last December. With my new ID in hand, I feel more visible than ever, which brings with it a joint sense of pride and fear. It’s hard to know yet all the ramifications of my decision in our new political context, especially once I find myself flying down to visit family in Republican-led states. But I’m lucky enough to have a strong support network — and one less place to hide. For me, it was time to stand up and be counted.
Abad and Fair Michigan are continuing their work amid the political uncertainty. “I don’t want people to be discouraged because we don’t know what’s happening right now,” she says. “Keep in mind that at one point in time, we were at a space where we never even thought that [a gender marker change] was possible. So though we are all holding our breath in disbelief, I also know that as trans people, we are strong, we are resilient and we will get through it.”
To learn more about Fair Michigan’s gender marker and name change clinics, visit their website, or contact Julisa Abad at [email protected] or 877-4FAIRMI.
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