By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
LANSING – Transgendered people will not be allowed to have their gender on their driver's licenses changed unless they actually have gender reassignment surgery. That is the result of a reversal by the Secretary of State's office which had previously just required that a person request that their gender be changed on their driver's license. The change has far-reaching implications for trans people, particularly for those who are in the process of transition.
"People are supposed to do a one-year period living as a woman before surgery. How are they supposed to do that if their driver's license says 'Male?'" said Rachel Crandall, MSW, executive director of TransGender Michigan.
In 2002, the Secretary of State began requiring proof of gender reassignment surgery to make the change on a driver's license. Before that, "You could just make the request and you weren't even required to provide documentation. Basically they would just take your word for it," said Jay Kaplan of the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT Project.
In a March 17, 2005 letter to Kaplan from Michael Wartella, Administration Director of the Secretary of State, the SOS agreed to go back to the old policy, and require only that individuals provide a doctor's statement or court order stating that a change in gender marker was necessary.
However, on April 8, Brian DeBano, the Secretary of State's Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer, reversed Wartella's decision.
"The driver's license is based on the birth certificate," said Kelly Chesney, an SOS spokesperson. "As state government we have to be consistent not only between state agencies but also from state to state. In the state of Michigan a court order is required to get a change on a birth certificate. Law enforcement understands that the license is based on a birth certificate so we need to have the license match the certificate."
Michigan citizens are already required to undergo gender reassignment surgery before they are able to change the gender marker on their birth certificate, according to Kaplan.
Christine Hughes is one person who has been harassed because her driver's license didn't match her true gender identity.
About five or six years ago, Hughes said, she was at Ann Arbor's Arborland mall. After using the restroom, she was detained for about an hour by mall security, who called the Ann Arbor police.
"I was scared to death," she said. "I was just minding my own business. Fortunately the cops had better sense than the mall cops, and they finally ended up letting me go."
The current policy is also hampering Hughes' ability to live her true gender full-time, she said. Hughes currently presents as a man in order to work at her current job at a warehouse and factory in Kalamazoo.
"I was waiting to get [the gender marker] changed on my driver's license and then I was going to go job-hunting, and now I can't," said Hughes, who added that she planned on saving money for her eventual surgery "once I got a job as Christy."
Crandall said that Hughes is not alone in her desperation.
"With a combination of all [the] phone calls and emails and messages we've gotten probably 25 so far," from transgender citizens who feel cheated by the change, said Crandall.
Speak OUT!
Call Brian DeBano, the Secretary of State's Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer, and let him know that his decision to require expensive surgery to change the gender marker on one's driver's license amounts to a punishment of transgender citizens. The direct number to DeBano's secretary is 517-373-2510.
Call your state Representative and Senator and ask them to pass a law requiring the Secretary of State to change the policy. For contact information for your state Senator and Representative, call the Michigan State House Clerk's office at 517-373-0135 or visit http://house.michigan.gov/find"a"rep.asp.
Real I.D. Act – making a bad situation worse
The Real I.D. Act, which passed the U.S. House during the week of May 2 and which is being considered by the U.S. Senate, would require all U.S. residents to provide four pieces of identification to receive a new or renewed driver's license. One of the required pieces of I.D. would be a birth certificate.
"The Real I.D. Act would create additional headaches [for transgender citizens] because other states don't allow people to change their gender identity on their birth certificates," said Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project.
Contact U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and tell them to vote "no" on the Real I.D. Act.
Senator Carl Levin – 269 Russell Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510-2202. Call 202-224-6221. Email Senator Levin by visiting the Contact Center on his website at http://www.senate.gov/~levin.
Senator Debbie Stabenow – 133 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Call 202-224-4822 or TTY: 202-224-2066, or e-mail [email protected].
