Female to Male Transation

[Tammy P.]

A friend of the family has started transitioning from Female to Male.
He has started his hormone shots and is looking at breast removal shortly.
He is at the ripe old age of 18 and will have a whole life ahead of himself as the guy he always wanted to be.

Here is the question.
At what point can he start putting down he is male on job applications, change his driver’s license and just move forward as a male.
He was born in Kansas which I understand is one of the few states that will not let him change his birth certificate until surgery is complete which based on the current options for lower surgery may never happen.

[Bria]

Kansas is one of the real backward states that will not change the gender marker at all, maybe some day.

Hugs, Bria

[Pat]

NCTE's Kansas page (http://www.transequality.org/documents/state/kansas ) says (emphasis added):

Kansas Administrative Regulations specify that the Division of Vital Statistics can amend the sex on a birth certificate "with the applicant's affidavit, or a parent's affidavit if the registrant is under the age of 18, that the sex was incorrectly recorded, or with a medical certificate substantiating that a physiological or anatomical change occurred." K.A.R § 28-17-20. However, currently the Division of Vital Statistics claims it has no authority to amend the gender marker on a Kansas birth certificate so individuals are not able to amend the gender marker on their Kansas birth certificate.

So it sounds like an issue with recalcitrant bureaucrats. There must be some group in the state creating political pressure on this -- join them.

[jentay1367]

He can get a drivers license in Kansas with the proper documentation from therapists. The court will issue docs that allow a drivers lincense to be procured and then you can get a passport. The documents that actually help you day to day. Unfortunately, he's a bit early in the process to change names and picture I.D unless he looks particularly masculine. Anyways....a birth certificate other than being affirming is quite unhelpful in most situations. Passport and Drivers license are invaluable. So the documents he really needs are at hand with some work.

[Tammy P.]

Thank you for the information.
The big question he has right now is when can he start checking the "Male" box on employment forms without creating a legal problem for himself down the road.

[jentay1367]

Depends of course, on where he works...but the simple answer is, no, no he can't. Get in line and wait like the rest of us. Not being a smart aleck...just a sad reality.

It will create a problem out of the gate with Social Security if nothing else and will just create problems for him, no one else.

[Tammy P.]

Thank you for the feedback. I will pass along the information.

[arbon]

He may need to use his legal name but he can mark male on his job applications, if they even ask that. Social security does not raise any issues with it as far as I know. They used to but stopped.

[Krisi]

Claiming to be "male" on a job application when he is not legally male is something that can be used to dismiss him later if the employer wants to get rid of him. It would be considered "false information" just like saying he graduated from such and such school if he didn't.

Of course if he does well and the employer is happy with his work, it would not be an issue.

If this is something that really concerns your friend, he should consult an attorney, not ask a friend to seek advice on a transsexual web forum.

[Nicole Erin]

I doubt they would ever even verify the whole gender mark on an application any more than they would break out a scale for a fat person to step on when they lie about their weight on their driver license. No one would want to open that can of worms. With transgender rights being what they are, it is the same thing. Who the heck would want to step forward and say, "Mr Smith, it was discovered that you were born a female and did not disclose that..." No, ain;t no oine gonna want to touch that subject with a 10 foot pole these days.

People fail to realize that your gender/sex does not matter really in a lot of facets of life.
An employer's only concerns are - CAN you do the job, show up on time, not steal, and not get in fights? If they wanted to get rid of someone THAT bad, they will find SOME reason so not like fibbing about sex matters.
I have been at my job 6 years and my gender has almost never come up, save for a few "family" I work with but my boss's only concern is - am I doing what I am getting paid to do? Well, I pretend to sometimes... And they pretend to pay!