Changing the Gender Marker on a Colorado Driver's Licence

Changing the Gender Marker on a Colorado Driver's Licence

Transgender people

Southern Colorado

Colorado

Rural communities

Drivers' licenses

"Identity documents are a major area of legal concern for transgender people. Beyond reasons of quality of life, convenience and even physical safety, IDs that match the gender marker of the person holding them are important in many simple day to day activities. The gender marker is the M or F listed as ‘Sex’ on a driver’s licence. Many transgender people have difficulty with, or avoid altogether, interactions that involve showing an ID because of the possible reactions of the person examining the ID and seeing someone who doesn’t match the picture or gender marker. Even going into a club or bar with an ID that doesn’t have a gender marker that looks like it matches the person showing the ID can create a situation where the ID checker has reason to believe it is a fake. This can lead to life-threatening and uncomfortable moments.

Currently, not all U.S. states allow the gender marker to be changed on a driver's license according to the latest information from the Human Rights Campaign. In Colorado, the process requires form DR2083, Medical Information Authorization for Change of Sex Designation, to be picked up, in person, at a Colorado DMV office.

In June of 2012, I went to the DMV in my rural town in Colorado where the DMV has only two clerks. I had picked up my form, in person, gotten the doctor’s signature and went back to turn it in. The following audio is the story of what transpired." -Kieran Hixon

Hixon, Kieran

CSL: Big Red Resource Kits Activity (Let's Talk About It).

2014

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

mp3

eng

Sound

LGBTQ+ Stories

Kieran Hixon

I don't yell a lot. That isn't how I get angry. And honestly, I don't get angry that much.

But one day I found myself yelling at the dmv, at the clerk.

The clerk who told me, "we have to keep track of those kind of people." And he meant transgender people.

It started fine.

Over the course of a few weeks, I'd gone to the dmv, gotten the form to change the gender marker on my driver's license, took the form home, filled it out, made an appointment at the doctor's office, got the doctor's signature, gone back to the dmv.

And there I was, thinking I'd followed all the instructions.

The clerk took one look at the form and said, where did you get this?

I was kind of puzzled.

Where did I get the form?

The clerk said again, sternly, where did you get this form?

So I'm like, well, from here.

And he says, no, you didn't.

We write down and number the files of people who pick up this form.

And this one isn't numbered.

So I think, ah, a misunderstanding.

And I say I'd come in last Thursday and pick.

The other DMV person was there, and the lady with the long black hair, and she'd given me the form.

The clerk stands up, leans over the desk and tells me, the other clerk isn't here, she's on vacation.

We number these forms.

We have to keep track of those kind of people.

And even though I'm getting this knot in my stomach, I try logic and I say, well, I got the form here and she didn't number it.

Can you number it now and keep track of me now?

And he says, we have to know who picks up these forms.

And I say, I picked up the form.

And he says he won't help me.

That's when I found myself yelling, yelling as he walked around the desk toward me, and I backed out of the office.

He is yelling, too.

He was yelling stuff about those kind of people and how we're trying to trick other people and how it should be a crime.

And I'm yelling how I'm going to report him and how he'll get in trouble.

And I was totally shaking.

Unfortunately, that was only in part one of getting the F changed to an M on my driver's license.

After that encounter, I reported him to the DMV higher ups on a website complaint form and I complained on Facebook, and I never heard anything back from the dmv.

But the Facebook complaint got me a call from a state legislator who put me in touch with a lawyer for the GLBT center up in Denver who told me really nicely that they were grateful to win the right to change the gender marker at all.

And why don't I just try a different DMV and see if I can get it all worked out?

And I should report the clerk that I had dealt with to the DMV.

So I drove myself to the nearest city, about 45 minutes away.

I stood in line at the DMV, and I handed the clerk my form.

And she looks me up on the computer and explains how there needs to be this code number on the top of the form and this little box that says, for official use only.

And I ask her if she can just, like, number the form now.

And she says, according to my record, this form is already in question.

And I guess that last clerk documented our interaction on my record, and I wish I could add my version to his record.

So I take a deep breath and I ask for a new form with a new code number, please and thank you.

And I go home and I fill out the form, and I make an appointment with a doctor.

I go get the doctor's signature.

I go back to the city, to the dmv.

I stand in line for, like, an hour.

I get to a clerk who looks at the form, looks me up on the computer, and says, the doctor's signature isn't legible.

I can't accept this.

And I'm like, what?

And I look at him blankly and honestly, I start to suspect a conspiracy.

I repeat back to him what I thought I heard him say very slowly, the doctor's signature isn't legible, really.

And very calmly, I say, so you're not going to accept this form because you can't read the doctor's handwriting?

And he nods.

So I take the form and I leave, and I drive straight to the doctor's office.

It was like an hour.

And I made it there right before they closed for the day.

And I hand the form to the receptionist and I say, the DMV wouldn't accept this because the doctor's signature is illegible.

And she looks at the signature and she says, well, but that's the doctor's signature.

And I say, yeah, I know.

Is there a way you can authenticate it?

Is there like, an official stamp or a number or something that could serve as proof?

Can I have the doctor come with me to the dmv?

And the receptionist kind of smiles and says, you know, this has never happened before.

And she goes away with the form and she Comes back and.

And then next to the illegible signature, there's an equally illegible signature, but then there's some printing of the doctor's name and initials and a phone number.

So the next week, I go back to the city, to the dmv, and I stand in line and I hand an ex clerk a form, and I brace myself, and the clerk says nothing.

And she hands me another number, and she tells me to wait.

And I don't even ask why, you know?

And sometime later, I was called back up and I had my picture taken, and I was told I would receive my new license in the mail.

The whole event of applying for the gender marker change took about three months, five trips to the dmv, and I look like a serial killer in my photo.

It's been like two years, you know, since that happened.

And I realized I'm still pissed about it.

And part of that is because.

Because of the prejudice, because of the feeling that I had no recourse or power in this situation.

Like, it might be legal for me to change that gender marker on my license, but they sure aren't going to make it easy.

And I get how I'm supposed to be, like, grateful or happy that we've won the right to have the gender marker changed.

And I get that that's supposed to be, you know, some sort of privilege.

But.

Why do they need to keep track of who picks up the form?

Why can't the form join all the other forms that you can just print out online?

Why do we need to keep track of those kind of people?

And I get it's because there's some scary idea that people who are not really transgender are going to try to change their ID or fake their ID by changing their gender marker or something.

I don't quite even understand the concern, really.

Actually, I don't get it at all.

I don't get the procedure at all.

I get that there was a doctor's signature area, and I get that there is my name and changed and all these things.

And for God's sakes, you could just look at that picture and see that I need to have my gender marker changed.

I mean, what makes that so difficult?

I guess I'm still mad.

I guess that clerk still frightens me.

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