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DCTC & Allies Urge Maryland to Drop Proposed Changes to ID Policy

http://dctranscoalition.wordpress.com
December 18, 2009
 

DCTC sent a letter today to the Governor and Attorney General of Maryland, asking them to stop the proposed changes we wrote about earlier to the MVA’s policy on changing the gender marker on state-issued ID’s.

Link to audio file: http://dctranscoalition.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/dctc-a...

DCTC sent a letter today to the Governor and Attorney General of Maryland, asking them to stop the proposed changes we wrote about earlier to the MVA’s policy on changing the gender marker on state-issued ID’s. For more background, a summary of the current policy and proposed changes, and DCTC’s recommendations on how to proceed, you can read our letter by clicking here. Thanks to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Whitman Walker Clinic, Massachusets Transgender Political Coalition, Maine Transgender Network, National Coalition for LGBT Health, the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance and all of our individual members who co-signed the letter on such short notice! This is a hugely important issue, and we’ll keep everyone in the loop as updates come through.

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

While each group has various reasons for concern, our common objection can be summarized as follows; transgender, transsexual and gender non-conforming (hereafter “trans”) Marylanders deserve identity documents that most accurately reflect the way they live their lives, and should not be forced to pay for expensive surgeries they may not desire nor need along with unnecessary legal fees in order to obtain accurate identification documents. Trans individuals already face tremendous challenges when accessing services and obtaining employment. Having to carry ID documents that do not match a person’s presentation or identity can place them at increased chances of discrimination, harassment and even physical violence. For the sake of trans Marylanders’ safety, we urge you to do what you can to help stop this dangerous and unnecessary policy change from being implemented.

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