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tgenerico

(109 posts)
Fri Oct 23, 2020, 05:18 PM Oct 2020

Transgender and non-binary voters face barriers ahead of the 2020 election (CBS)

Transgender and non-binary voters face barriers ahead of the 2020 election

The stakes are high for transgender voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election, and one major problem looming is the difficulty of securing appropriate identification. A UCLA study estimates that more than 965,000 transgender people will be eligible to vote, but out of the 45 states that conduct elections strictly in person, 42% of eligible transgender voters don't have the correct identification.

Noah Grey Rosenzweig, a 22-year-old trans man from Washington, D.C., told CBS News that when he goes to the polls, he has to bring an ID, which has the wrong name and gender marker. "It's a day of a lot of anxiety," Rosenzweig said. "I'm really hoping that I don't have to go through any of that and the ID is enough, that I look hopefully similar enough to my 5, 6-year-old ID at this point, that I don't run into any issues."

(more)


A lot of folks who are basically on the right side are not necessarily aware of this issue.
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Transgender and non-binary voters face barriers ahead of the 2020 election (CBS) (Original Post) tgenerico Oct 2020 OP
It must be horribly difficult and frustrating. And the majority of this nation has RKP5637 Oct 2020 #1
Just curious SoCalNative Oct 2020 #2
Yes it will, but even there ... tgenerico Oct 2020 #3
But you only need to have a name change SoCalNative Oct 2020 #4
The question is looking like the photo. n/t tgenerico Oct 2020 #5
And when you update your passport SoCalNative Oct 2020 #6
Personal opinion - having cross sexed identification isn't a big deal ga_girl Oct 2020 #7

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)
1. It must be horribly difficult and frustrating. And the majority of this nation has
Fri Oct 23, 2020, 05:24 PM
Oct 2020

no idea what people have to go through. And then many just do not care, and others want to make ones life horribly difficult.

 

tgenerico

(109 posts)
3. Yes it will, but even there ...
Fri Oct 23, 2020, 05:27 PM
Oct 2020

... the same issue applies if the person looks "sexually different" from when the photo was taken.

SoCalNative

(4,613 posts)
4. But you only need to have a name change
Fri Oct 23, 2020, 05:29 PM
Oct 2020

and a letter from your doctor to change your name and gender on your passport. No matter whether your state will allow you to change your birth certificate or not.

ga_girl

(184 posts)
7. Personal opinion - having cross sexed identification isn't a big deal
Sat Oct 24, 2020, 12:45 PM
Oct 2020

If someone questions you, just say "I'm transitioning." Simple, brief, to the point. Hold your head up high, behave like the person you want to be, with confidence.

At least that's what worked for me. Voting in person in my precinct years ago, when getting a puzzled look from the voter check in staff, that seemed to satisfy their curiosity. Adding "I haven't changed my legal name yet" helped.

Since I've been working as a poll official for at least 3 major elections, we really don't have much time to question a person's gender. And unless someone has had full facial feminization surgery, the basic structure of a face doesn't change all that much through transition. One thing I'd recommend is holding make up to a minimum for the MtF transitioners. There is nothing in my poll manager training manual that mentions gender matching, and it's never been brought up in class room training.

As an example, during the spring primary this year, I handled an attractive young woman. It wasn't until handing her DL back that I noticed the "M'.

Now that I have changed my name, and IDs, life is much easier.

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