Support Alex's Name Change!

A few weeks ago, I went to get a COVID test and wound up trapped in the middle of a swarm of nurses loudly arguing about what to do with me while I frantically tried to explain. You see, I'm transgender, and I've been on hormones for long enough to transform my appearance, but I am still stuck with the legal name and gender marker I was assigned at birth.

 

I've been hoping to change my name and gender marker for a long time, because I feel dysphoric whenever I need to use my legal name, but now my situation is quickly becoming a crisis.

 

I live in Quebec, where the government has recently implemented a vaccine passport to access most "non-essential" services. The law states that businesses who suspect anyone of fraud (such as someone who looks like they're using someone else's ID and vaccine passport) must call the cops and ask them to issue a ticket (in the range of $1,000 to $5,000) to the person suspected of fraud.

 

Since I look nothing like my ID, and my legal name and gender marker don't match what strangers see when they look at me, I can't use my vaccine passport without the risk of painfully dehumanizing interactions or even having the cops called on me.

 

For now, I am dealing with this situation by just not going anywhere, but I can't go on like this forever. I need to change my name and get ID that matches what people see when they look at me so that I can safely use my vaccine passport.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, because I am a US Citizen and an international student in Quebec, I can't just pay to change my name and driver's license and call it a day. To change my name and gender marker, I also need to apply for a new birth certificate so that I can surrender my original to the Quebec government, apply for a new US passport, and update both my Cértificat d'Acceptation du Quebec for studies and my Study Permit. The total of all of these costs is way more than I can manage, so I'm asking for help.

 

 

 

In order to change my name in Quebec, I need:

$58.75 USD to order and ship a new birth certificate from Maryland's third-party birth certificate supplier (since I will need to surrender the original copy of my birth certificate and will not ever get it back).

$144 CAD to apply for a "Change of Sex Designation," which will also allow me to change my first and middle name.

 

Then, I will need to order a new U.S. Passport from abroad via the expedited service (so that I only have to go 4-6 weeks in a foreign country without the ability to return to the US in an emergency) ($145 USD for the passport plus $60 USD to expedite it).

 

After that, I will need to order new immigration documents with Quebec and Canada: I will need to apply for a new Certificate of Acceptance of Quebec ($117 CAD) and a new Study Permit ($150 CAD).

 

Lastly, I will need to update my driver's license and social security cards, but drivers' licenses are relatively inexpensive, and social security cards are free, so I'm not asking for help with those.

 

By my calculations, I need $263.75 USD plus $411 CAD in order to change my name and gender marker. That is way more money than I have to spare as a student. If I don't reach the full goal, I can probably cover some of these costs, but I don't have hundreds of dollars to make this possible.

 

 

 

Whether you donate or just share my story, thanks for helping me get a name and ID that will match the person I am and let me safely use my vaccine passport.

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(If I do reach my goal, please don't keep donating afterwards. Please search for another trans person raising money for surgery or a name change and donate there instead.)