My Experience Updating Gender Marker at SSA

Despite the Executive Order making me non-existent in the eyes of the US Federal government, I persist. This past Wednesday, two days after that order, I ventured into my local Social Security office to update my gender marker. There is no real point to doing so at this stage of my life, other than as a gesture of resistance to hatred.

For those who don’t know, the Social Security Administration records the “sex” of everyone in the United States who pays into the system. They don’t make this fact apparent, and that marker doesn’t appear anywhere in the public facing record. The fact of having changed that marker can result in outing of one’s trans status to an employer. The HR person at my place of employment already knew of my status, and I let them know that I had taken this step.

My original plan was to do this before the inauguration took place, on January 9. Then President Carter passed away, and January 9 was declared a National Day of Mourning. Because all Federal offices were to be closed that day, I had to reschedule my appointment for this change. As a result of the issuance of that Executive Order, I considered not keeping the new appointment. Friends encouraged me to keep it anyway. After all, the Federal government moves slowly, and the odds were that no instructions would be issued to rank and file employees that quickly for implementation of the ordered changes.

I did indeed keep the appointment. And my friends were right. It was handled as a matter of course, as if the EO had never been issued. I walked into the local SSA office and checked in for my appointment. I had arrived about a half hour early. Nonetheless, I waited only a few minutes before the employee called me back. She asked the reason for my appointment. I stated that I was there for a gender marker change.

As she began to outline the steps involved, I presented my completed request form. “Ah, I see you came prepared.” (paraphrased) She then asked for my “documents.” I had come prepared with my recently renewed passport, which I then handed over. I noted that it already had the correct gender marker. She looked everything over, and turned to her computer. She began typing, and after about a minute, looked back to me.

She then said “I’m going to enlarge my screen so that you can see it.” Moments later, she turned her monitor to me, and showed me that the “sex” indicated in my SSA record did indeed show an “F” for female. And then it was official. She indicated I would receive a new Social Security card in the mail. Remember, that gender marker is nowhere on the card. Issuing a new card is still part of the process though. I thanked her for her time and assistance, and we exchanged “Have a good day” greetings.

And now, everywhere the Federal government tracks my gender, it reflects that gender as female. At least for now. Will I lose that designation? Yes, that is possible. When I change my name, if I update my passport, per the EO, that gender marker will be automatically reverted to birth sex. For now though, I am female in the eyes of the Federal government. Yes, I am aware that I may have painted a target on my back in the eyes of the Trump administration. There is a famous image from my youth that seems appropriate. I will include it below. The journey continues.

Tags: Gender Marker, Social Security, trans, Transgender, USPol