ID Documents for Transgender People

I'm Paula Ellis, and I'm the Executive Director of Dallas Trans-Cendence.  We're a peer support group for transgender people, and their loved ones.

I'm raising money to assist other local transgender people obtain court ordered name and gender marker changes, as well as updating their US Passports to reflect their gender identity and names. Having identity documents that match your appearance, name, and identity is vital for transgender people. Imagine showing your driver's license at a traffic stop, to travel, any of the situations in which we routinely verify our identity, and having to reveal something as intensely personal as the fact that you are transgender to the person viewing your driver's license? That person might discriminate against you in some way, say insulting things to you, or otherwise treat you very differently because they discover that you are transgender by looking at your driver's license.  These types of encounters can make life difficult or impossible for transgender people.

I've been fortunate enough to update these vital documents for myself. But there are a great many transgender people here in the DFW area who haven't been able to update their identity documents. We need to change this, and change it now, because we believe that one of the first things that will happen after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president is that he will rescind the executive order that allows transgender people to change their gender on their US Passports.  We further fear that the exceedingly hostile legislative environment here in Texas will cause transgender people to lose the ability to update any of their state issued identity documents here. 

These are not idle fears! Trump has pledged to rescind all of President Obama's executive orders.  More than 100 anti-LGBT (many specifically anti-transgender) bills are slated to be introduced into the Texas legislature this session. We know that Dan Patrick wants Texas to have it's own anti-transgender bathroom bill, and one of the keys to making such a law work is to eliminate our ability to have documentation that matches our identity.

We are trying to get as many people as possible through court to get their name / gender maker / passports updated. We're trying to be cost efficient about this. We have one (possibly more) attorneys who've agreed to help us with this for free. We are encouraging people to self-file their cases, and providing information about how to accomplish a legal name and gender marker change here in Texas.  We are working to get volunteers to drive transgender people who lack transportation to court, and to state and federal agencies such as the DPS and Social Security Administration. We know that people who are truly indigent can apply to have court costs waived. But even with all that, there are costs in this process can't be waived. Fingerprint cards cost money. The US Department of State won't waive passport fees. The court may not always waive court costs.  Nobody (that I know of) does passport photos for free. Documents have to be notarized - sometimes there is a fee for that. Required medical documentation may have some cost associated with it. We're doing everything possible to stretch a buck, including encouraging people to be really resourceful for themselves.

The individual costs of doing this, court costs, filing fees, incidental things, isn't high - $350 - $600 or so. And for many of us, that doesn't seem like very much money.  However, there are many in our community who live in great financial desperation, and $350 may as well be $35,000!

I've set the goal for $2000 - I hope we exceed this, because $2000 won't cover very many people, and there are many of us who need to change our documentation, and we need to change it NOW. This is literally a license to live, and we have very real fear that as early as January, most transgender people in Texas who haven't been able to update their identity documents may be unable to do so for many years to come.

Any contribution you give will help a local transgender person who desperately needs to update their identity documents. $10 is a set of fingerprint cards. $20 is a passport photo. These may seem trivial, but many of us live on disability, or are unemployed because no one will hire us once they have a look at our current ID.

Your contributions will literally help save the lives of some transgender people, and will make life better for literally everyone we are able to get through this process.

My group has filed 501(c)3 paperwork, but we have not yet been granted non-profit status yet. We expect to get this, and when we do, I will start a charitable campaign here. However, the need for help is urgent, and the window of opportunity for local transgender people here in DFW could close before our charitable status is granted. We simply can't wait.

Please help if you can - you will earn my undying gratitude, and that of the transgender people we assist. Getting a court order that proved to the world that I was a woman was one of the BEST days of my life. With your help, other local transgender people can share that experience.