Name change

[Min Farshaw]

I was born Roger Dale Baughman.  I have since then earlier this year decided that I couldn’t live as a man any longer.  I was battling myself on the fact of me being transgender.  I finally built the courage needed to come out and declare being transgender.  One of the many steps in my transition is changing my name legally.  I came up with a beautiful name I believe suits me well.  I want to be named Elimindra Morgana Farshaw.  Min for short.  I was wanting advice on getting this done so I can have my female name on my documents and license.  How do you do it how much does it cost.  Do I have to wait until I’ve started turning into a woman physically?  Any insight into this would be very helpful.  Thanks .

[Dasia Anderl]

The process costs $330 for court here in MN. Depends on your state. One needs a letter from one’s doctor explaining its been a substantial amount of time on HRT in order to apply for it. It’s up to the judge one gets and is not a guarantee. Need two witnesses to declare about one’s transition and need for “new” gender. Every state is different but here it wasn’t a big deal the first time. I also changed my last name to my partner’s last name so I did all that twice. Second time no need for a doctor’s letter because I wasn’t “changing” my gender. Go to this website to find out your state’s requirements: https://transequality.org/documents

There’s some hindsight wisdom I want to share with you about this.

-I found it super empowering to have my name and gender corrected

-Since I don’t pass it’s been very hard to secure new employment. I get discriminated a ton and…it’s nearly impossible to prove. Yes, it’s illegal here and has been since 1993! No, I didn’t and still don’t have $10,000 for an attorney to help fight a lawsuit for me anyway.

-I would recommend having a solid job and “changing”, I say correcting, your name and gender on the job

-I would recommend transitioning in stages. Starting by removing your facial and other unwanted hair first. Could take a couple years. Meanwhile getting your body to your goal weight, taking voice lessons and research and interview your surgeons. Buy your new wardrobe. Live as the woman you are at least part-time and see if you’re for sure about transitioning. Once there take HRT. Change/Correct your name and gender on ID’s. Get your surgeries. Welcome to your life as Min! This order of things is called “stealth”. Many of us transition like this since it’s the safest way to use your male privilege to secure your financial situation which…will nearly evaporate later on. I urge you to be cautious.

-I would recommend thoroughly researching all aspects of the law, your faith, your family, your friends and make sure to have your affairs in order before making permanent changes. Once your identity is legal there’ll be a trail linking you to being a trans person forever. Social Security will always have records of all of your names.

Best wishes,

Dasia

she/her/hers

[𝓜𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓒𝓁ℴℯ́ 💋💋]

Min,

Dasia gave some great practical advice.   Below is a link to a wonderful resource for how to go about it.  I took the liberty to drill down to Missouri since it is your listed state in your profile.  For name change the process sounds straightforward, with publicizing the intent to change and a court petition.    You’ll need to consult whatever department of the state oversees your public identity for the requirements to obtain the court order and likely to your DMV for how to get your ID changed.  If you have trouble finding these, reach out we might be able to help you find more info.

https://transequality.org/documents/state/missouri

Hugs, Ambassador Cloe

[Erica Mitchell]

I just changed my name and gender in California last December.  For the both changes I just had to submit a petition to the county court and wait six weeks. To get my new driver’s license I had to supply a letter from my physician for the gender part, but as of the first of this year that’s not supposed to be necessary. It took me 3 trips to the courthouse and 3 to the DMV, but that was partly due to not receiving complete information first time at the DMV. All told it cost me about $500, but well worth it. Changing the info on my Social Security account didn’t cost anything. Just remember, once you have the new i.d. you need to change your name and possibly gender on everything: bank accounts, credit cards, car insurance, car registration and title, insurance policies and titles to any real property. I didn’t think about some of those until a good two months after obtaining my new i.d. Also, to obtain the new “Real I.D.” to be able to fly as of next year, make sure info on your birth certificate is changed as well. In my case, I have to send to New York for a copy of my original certificate, then send them a letter from my physician to be issued a new one with my new name and gender.

Good luck to any of you contemplating this process. It’s a bit of a hassle, but well worth it. I no longer think of myself as Kenneth at all, only as Erica, my new name. (In my case I just changed my first name.)

Love to all my sisters, Erica Mitchell

[Cassandra]

I made my name and gender change in January 2010. I had to go to the Courthouse and the process took about a month and I got my name changed on all my documents. For the driver’s license part, I had to get a letter from the doctor and had to go to the Courthouse and get my name change information and then went to the DMV office with all the information for my new driver’s license, took a new picture as the new me and was on my way.

After I got my driver’s license in the mail I then went and changed my information on everything else (banking account, car insurance and registration and title and everything else). I then had everything saying I’m a female.

I have since moved from Michigan to Washington (state) and had to change my driver’s license and car information again but it was a piece of cake as all my information said female and I had no problem at the DMV office and got my Washington driver’s license about a week or so later. I have lived in Washington now for about 3 years and love it, I am far away from anyone I ever met in my male life and am blessed to now be a female.

I didn’t have a job as a male and had always wanted to be a bus driver growing up so I got a job not long after moving out here as a bus driver for King County Metro. I have had this job for almost the 3 years that I have lived out here. I saw an ad for bus drivers and filled out an application with everything being female it made me feel good to get a job as a woman. I had never held a job for this long in my life until now.

Cassandra McDaniel

[Author]

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