‘Time Is Now.’ Document Updates Become Pressing for Trans People
Transgender people are scrambling to update names, IDs, passports, and other documents out of fear of what a second Trump administration may bring. LGBTQ+ organizations have rushed to help in whatever ways they can.
by Mira Lazine
Here’s one data point illustrating the urgency gripping trans people today: As many people sought help with gender marker changes from the nonprofit Trans Maryland in the one month after Donald Trump’s election as did in the three previous months combined.
“We've had just a really significant increase in interest in our services,” said Lee Blinder, the executive director of Trans Maryland, which has run name and gender marker change programs that have helped many hundreds of adults over several years.
“Trans people have been targeted throughout the campaign process by this new incoming administration and it's been very clear that we are not being viewed as full members of this society,” Blinder told Assigned Media in an interview.
So, facing an environment so suddenly hostile and uncertain, trans people are not only racing to update their primary documents, they are also rushing to ensure that complex secondary records align as well.
Ever Hanna, an attorney and co-organizer of the Maryland name and gender change efforts, said the election profoundly altered people’s calculations and intensified their worries.
“I see this real need now for complex things like passports, second-parent adoptions, name changes, figuring out immigration – issues that people had kind of put off because they're like, ‘it's not an urgent issue.’” But since the election, said Hanna, people are realizing “that the time is now.”
Trans Maryland updates information on name and gender change clinics via social media and its newsletter – where it also points people to volunteer opportunities such as speaking out on new legislation.
“We absolutely want to see our community showing up to support positive legislation,” Blinder said, “and to make sure the unfortunate negative legislation that is really shamefully introduced in Maryland doesn't move forward.”
Maryland recently became the 17th state to pass laws guaranteeing it as a sanctuary for gender affirming care.
The political climate is not nearly as welcoming in other parts of the country, though, where trans-allied organizations have preferred to keep their advocacy efforts quiet, even on relatively low-key matters like assisting with name and gender changes. Assigned Media reached out to several organizations that declined to discuss specific plans publicly. The reason: A public spotlight on their efforts could subject them or their clients to harassment and intimidation.
Digital guides have sought to address the demand for document updating: Assigned Media has published a how-to guide, as have Activists for Trans Equality and Erin Reed, among others.
Individuals are also filling the void. In Minnesota, the community organizer Ash Tifa estimates that she’s been able to help upwards of 450 people make name and gender changes over the past 18 months.
“The goal right now is to see as many people at once walk through the name and gender marker change process and get their documents updated before the inauguration,” Tifa told Assigned Media. Tifa said any new federal rule changes would likely place special burdens on trans immigrants so she is aiming to ensure information efforts reach them.
Working on her own, Tifa said, “has been really tough.” But she continues this way because she wants her clinics to be trans led and community based
“What I really want to communicate to folks is that the way we survive, and we have survived times like these before, is through community,” she said.
“The queer and trans community will always be here. We are louder and more vocal and more visible than ever before.” Even in this period of “increased harassment, violence and discrimination,” Tifa said, those connections will strengthen the community.
Mira Lazine is a freelance journalist covering transgender issues, politics, and science. She can be found on Twitter, Mastodon, and BlueSky, @MiraLazine