I went to a free workshop today focused on the process needed to change one’s name and gender marker in Austin, TX. It turned out that it was a bit more than that! The very brief of it:
I asked about support for non-binary gender identities. As I expected, there is no such support in the United States of America. You pretty much choose M or F. It’s amazing how much pressure this puts on individuals to “sort” into the binary. More on that some other time.
Here’s the sorts of documents needed for completing the process:
There seems to be additional documentation needed if you’ve changed your name before or if you’ve got a criminal record.
They reassured listeners that the judges in Austin, TX would not have an adversarial hearing. That’s to say, they won’t ask you why you’re doing this, what your gender is, etc. They’ll review your petition beforehand, and then you just need to be present in order to answer questions about missing documentation or documentation that needs clarification.
Another detail: as a resident of TX, you can choose any county in TX to undertake the procedure. Austin, TX rates favorably, based on information I overheard at the workshop. Also, if you were born in TX, but then move to another state, you can still complete this process in TX, even as a non-resident.
The expected fees for the full process are around $300-$400. These fees can be waived if you show that you’d be unable to pay them.
The most tedious process really seems to be about the aftermath - everything ELSE you need to change after getting legal recognition from the local government. For me, that amounts to at least:
That’s the gist of things. The Q hosted the workshop, and they seem pretty great.
So with that, my name will be Allele Dev in probably about three to four months, and my gender marker will be F.