Dear WKRP,
I spoke to three transpeople, initially expecting just a simple yes or no and away I go. It sparked a really interesting dialogue though, since it turns out you can have your birth records changed but, at the moment anyway, you aren’t legally obligated to. In Canada, changing your sex and then your ID exists in somewhat of a neutral area—not that the informality is a sign of our unrestrained liberalism, just oversight.
Anyone can change the name on their birth certificate (for $137), thereby making it easy to change it on all subsequent ID. Though changing your sex on a birth certificate is cheaper ($37), it requires more effort, and certainly some consideration.
My colleague Adrien has been living as a man for several years, and hasn’t changed his records in any way. He’s had no major problems at borders, but one reason he’s reluctant to have his ID reflect his sex change is on the very slim chance he’s ever arrested, he’d rather be imprisoned with a bunch of biological females than a bunch of biological males. Transpeople have a lot to think about when they go through their changes, and no doubt the totally shitty fact that more of them are killed in hate crimes than any other targeted group put together, including gays and people of colour, informs some decisions.
Canadian celebrity transsexual Nina Arsenault never bothered to have her identification changed. Her passport reflects her female status only because when she applied for it, officials judged by her submitted photo that she had checked the wrong box and amended it. The rest of her ID is male. “Crossing the border is terrifying for me, the States specifically,” says Nina. She once went with a girlfriend who is very convincing, but whose passport says male. When they explained to the border patrol they were transsexuals, the guys got on their walkie-talkies and had all their colleagues come over to gawk at them, making remarks like, “Let me get this straight: You two have dicks?” They didn’t let them cross, claiming they were a flight risk. Don’t you just love those nightclubs where you’re treated like shit at the door and then they won’t even let you in?
Related tales of Nina’s include having her breasts and ribs done in Mexico just after 9/11 and going through the border at Houston, where they demanded she take off her surgical girdle because the gauze made it appear as though she had dynamite strapped under it (she refused). Another time she was turned back and forced onto a plane full of cranky Thunder Bay residents who had all been informed over the intercom that their flight had been held up by a transsexual... so guess who, everybody?!
My friend Kaleb’s roommate Lukas got the name on his birth certificate changed, and for anyone who’s interested in doing this, it can take up to a year, but it seems to go faster if you include a money order instead of a personal cheque. You need to go to your provincial government’s Web site and you’ll find information in the “name change” section. “You have to get the paperwork by phone and it’s annoying to get through to them,” says Kaleb. “So make sure you call when you have time to sit around and wait.”
What stumped everyone was what actually qualifies, rather than obliges, a person to have their gender legally changed on ID. Is it top surgery? Bottom surgery? Both? The rules are as vague as gender itself can be: written proof from a surgeon that you’ve made some steps towards transitioning (though they don’t state any specific changes), along with written proof that you’ve been examined by a separate doctor and had your gender declared what it reflects.
