tangle of rainbows

so on the one hand, yale, it’s cool that you have a lower (tho still nonzero) fee for issuing replacement diplomas under a new name for trans graduates than for cis graduates, but at the same time, that puts you in the position of having to have an Official Policy on who counts as trans, and i’m . . . not sure that’s a position you really want to be in

@sigmastolen replied to your post: “you picked a hell of a time to suddenly become a goddamn wpath...”

what’s especially bizarre about it is that, like . . . the australian government explicitly says that it’s not really interested in what’s physically going on with your body? they care about how you identify and how you present, so like, they’re literally asking to have a Trained Medical Professional certify that i’m not lying abt who i think i am. (points to anyone who can explain what the harm would be here. like, why are they so worried about rooting out gender fraud? like, literally what would the advantage be in having a birth certificate that says “sex: X (unspecified)” if i’m not trans?) tbh it feels like (and almost certainly is) a holdover from a previous system of gender regulation that did obsess over our physical bodies, and you did have to have hormones/surgery to change your government documents. but now that that’s no longer a requirement, this just feels like an arbitrary hoop and if my california doctor adamantly refuses to sign the goddamn thing it will be the hugest struggle to not walk into whoever i find in ny and be like “ok i’m literally only here so you will sign this form for me what do i need to say to you so that you’ll do that come on chop chop i don’t have all day”

joke’s on dr coppenrath, tho, b/c he worded his initial letter vaguely enough that i could use it at the new york dmv to get my new license to say “F” instead of “M” (guess i’m a gender outlaw after all! it’s (arguably) ~technically~ perjury either way) even tho i’m p sure new york actually does want you to have had the works, so what now

you picked a hell of a time to suddenly become a goddamn wpath gatekeeper, dr coppenrath, but unfortunately for you, wpath (astonishingly) actually agrees with me on this one, so tbqh fuck off

@sigmastolen replied to your post: “in news that is Utterly Shocking, it appears that the australian...”

@shippyard replied to your post: “in news that is Utterly Shocking, it appears that the australian...”

thanks friends <3 it seems like it’s gonna be ok, it’s just been frustrating to hash out with the administration b/c of the time difference and the inability to call. plus also now i have the Added Social Anxiety of having to go to my doctor in california and be like “ok so i know i already asked you for a thing about this but now i need you to fill out this totally different form which seems like it’s asking you to say i’ve had hormones+surgery but really i promise it isn’t i even have it in writing from the pertinent state government also you need to get it notarized” so that’s fun -________-

@ladymurgatroid replied to your post: “in news that is Utterly Shocking, it appears that the australian...”

omg so my gay and lesbian lit teacher in high school had this Theory that whenever someone made a big life change (esp a big life change around gender/sexuality), they would get a Dramatic Haircut and i was so resistant to this theory at the time b/c i was insistent that i could make big internal changes w/o making big external changes AND YET here i am newly out with a bright purple pixie cut and i feel like ms barber-just is Newly Vindicated

in news that is Utterly Shocking, it appears that the australian national government and the government of the state that issued my birth certificate (which, hilariously enough, is the state that is the seat of the national government) are not on exactly the same page when it comes to changing gender on birth certificates

in other news: “what the heck counts as “clinical treatment” to establish a nonbinary gender identity” and other questions i will be asking this clerk via e-mail this should go well

just sent my doctor in california an e-mail asking for a letter certifying that i identify outside the gender binary so i can get that sweet sweet X marker on my australian birth certificate. fingers crossed that he doesn’t suddenly become hella gatekeepery — just in case i pointed him directly to the paragraph in their guidelines on sex and gender recognition saying that hrt and gas aren’t required for changing gov’t records, so nyah

so OK it looks like i get to go to the australian consulate after all! :DDD b/c afact the official national governmental position re birth certificates is “you just need a letter from a doctor saying you identify as [whatever]; we don’t rlly care what’s happening with your body pls don’t tell us that”, but also that “birth certificates are technically dealt with by the states”, and the act’s position seems to be “no u need to do medical stuff to ur body before we will consider updating ur birth certificate what does that mean for the X category we offer shhhhhhhhh we’re not gonna tell u also this form expired in june of 2015 even tho it’s on our official website and everything”. this is going to be an Adventure