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ave you ever had to change infor
mation on your state identification
card or drivers license? It requires
filling out a few documents, paying
.the fees and sometimes going
before a judge, but beyond that, no big deal, right?
Well, it becomes a very big deal for low-
income or homeless trans youth. Its a step many
in the trans segment of our community put off,
sometimes for years after they acknowledge the
difference between their core identity and the
gender shown on their birth certificates.
The roadblocks to changing that simple lit
tle “M” or “F ’ can he nightmarish and intimi
dating, especially if you’re a young person whose
interactions with the state have been anything
hut upbeat. A new program sponsored by people
who care promises to change all that and to cre
ate a friendlier, more accessible atmosphere for
those who need its services.
The ID Project operates through Outside In,
where several staff members, some without
remuneration, assist low-income and homeless
youth in walking through the steps of identifica
tion changes. It’s Time, Oregon! executive
director Lori Buckwalter donated $2,500 to a
special hind to spearhead the program.
The trans activist received the money through
the Community Health Partnership, which pre
sented her with its Public Health Genius Award in
October. (Buckwalter also received one of three
community service awards from the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force at the closing plenary ses
sion of the recent Creating Change conference.)
Powell’s Books and the office of sex reassign
ment surgeon Toby Meltzer made additional
donations for the project. A total of $7,000 got
it up and running.
Depending on whether a name change is
I dentity C risis
more complicated when ficiary of the program told Just Out why this is so.
gender is involved.
“It isn’t being done anywhere else. For exam
“Changing sex desig ple, in Hawaii a person who self-IDs as the sex
nation through the
not marked on a birth certificate must complete
Project helps low-income ond homeless youth
DMV requires a letter of sexual reassignment surgery,” says Ann Hinds,
through the transition process by Patricia L. MacAodha referral from a therapist Outside In risk education specialist. “In Oregon
on the DMV’s list of we only need a letter from an approved mental
‘approved’ therapists,” health clinician to qualify for changing the gen
counselor Reid Vander der designation on an ID card.”
burgh says. “Without
Vanderburgh agrees. “It makes perfect sense
that letter, the DMV
that validation of one’s chosen name and gender
will not change the sex
identity is a key component and a first step toward
designation at all.”
becoming one’s true self.” He cites existing atti
This has been one of tudes that could make “our little program seem
the main barriers for
trivial and almost irrelevant,” but “client response
trans youth, especially
has proven we’re right to consider it so important.”
those who are homeless.
The response of Aaron Link, the first person
They normally can’t to complete the project, bears Vanderburgh out.
afford to visit therapists,
“I’ve been through it myself,” he says. “The
and without knowledge
technical process of ID change isn’t too difficult
of the process or access
in Oregon— we are one of the most progressive
to a therapist on the list, states in the nation in terms of trans rights.”
^ they can’t complete the
Link lists two primary obstacles in making the
o ID change. Vander-
ID change as being “cost and the requirement that
^ burgh, who is on the list,
a mental health professional approve the
o is vital to the young peo-
change.... The level of discrimination and ridicule
? pie who are seeking this
trans people face is so high,” he says, “that many of
| identification change.
us are afraid to visit doctors and counselors.”
“The project offers
The ID Project appears to be a small but sig
Lori Buckwalter (center, receiving the Creating Change Community
a
,
nificant
step away from that fear and a forward
Service Award from Lorri L. Jean and Sarah Jacobsen on Nov. 10) is Sta c.ounse ,nS an SUP'
port for completing the
movement toward self-esteem and core identity
the driving force behind the ID Project
administrative process recognition for our trans youth. J H
involved, the total process can cost from about
es,” Buckwalter says. The program pays all asso
$20 to almost $100. A legal name change requires ciated administrative fees and “encourages
For more information about the ID PROJECT
filling out papers through the Division of Vital
youth to be good self-advocates in asserting contact Maria Bonacci at 503-535-3820 or
Records, paying an $89 fee and appearing before a their rights to equal treatment.”
maria@outsidein. org.
judge. Once the name change is accomplished,
Buckwalter adds that the project “stands at the
the cost of the identification card/driver’s license cutting edge of civil rights for trans people in this
P atricia L. M a c A odha is a Portland, free-lance
change is cheaper, about $20, but the process is country.” Outside In staff members and one bene writer. E-mail her at plmacaodhal@hotmoil.com.
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