The DMV Needs to be Updated

Getting one’s gender marker changed on his or her state ID can be a rather trying experience.  Altering documents does not seem like a big deal, but institution will make an individual jump through a lot of hoops just to get.  The Department of Motor Vehicles is the absolute worst when changing one’s gender marker. 

The DMV gave me an extremely tough time when I went to change my gender marker.  I live in the state of Maryland.  The DMV has not updated its policy on transgender individuals since the year 1999.  In order to get my gender marker changed on my state ID, three different letters had to be reviewed by the Medical Advisory Board.  I had to write my own letter requesting that my gender marker be changed.  The advisory board required that I have a letter from my gender therapist as well as doctor.  Getting the letters was not the hard part.  The biggest issue that I had with the DMV was that the advisory board took a month to review three letters that were only about three paragraphs each.  Every time I called the DMV back, the representative that I spoke to could not find any notes in the system regarding my case.  I stopped calling the DMV after two weeks.  I eventually received a letter in the mail form the advisory board saying that it had granted my desire to change my gender marker on my ID, 

The DMV needs to update their standards regarding the transgender population.  I had my birth certificate with me when I got a new ID with the corrected name on it.  The DMV should have changed everything then.  There should be no problem regarding the gender marker when other legal documents are presented to back up the claim.  There was no reason for me to have three letters just to change one part of a state ID.  Why did it take one month for the advisory board to come to a decision about my gender marker?  I do not know what is so confusing about someone wanting to change his or her legal identification information.  The procedure for changing any kind of document should go smoothly in this day and age.  People change everything about themselves.  Altering a gender marker is no longer something that is considered “strange” by most people. 

Hopefully the Department of Motor Vehicles changes its policy regarding transgender individuals in the future.  It will probably be a long wait before this day finally arrives.  It is sad that a major institution is stuck twenty years or more in the past.  The DMV needs to be put on a crash course in order to catch up with the times.