General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWeekly Address: Celebrating Independence Day
Thank you President Obama.
By Chase Strangio
Late last week, after nearly a decade of advocacy led by our coalition partners at the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Social Security Administration (SSA) updated its policy for changing gender designation in Social Security records. The ACLU also included this as one of our top LGBT second term recommendations to President Obama. This change will not only protect the privacy of transgender individuals, but also brings SSA in line with other federal agencies and prevailing medical standards for the treatment of transgender individuals.
For transgender individuals, accessing identification that accurately reflects their gender can be a lifelong struggle. With requirements varying across local, state and federal agencies, transgender individuals are forced to navigate a web of conflicting and arbitrary rules to ensure that identification documents consistently and accurately reflect their gender identity. Without accurate identification, transgender individuals face not only the prospect of being outed and its attendant risks of stigmatization, harassment and violence, but also the potential loss of employment and public benefits when state identification is flagged as inconsistent with Social Security records.
Under the new policy, transgender people are able to change the gender designation on their Social Security records by submitting either an amended passport or birth certificate reflecting the applicant's lived gender, or certification from a physician confirming that the individual has undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition. This policy replaces SSA's outdated and inconsistently-applied policy requiring documentation of surgery.
Though almost all federal agencies now permit changes to gender designation without requiring proof of any specific medical treatments, many state agencies continue to impose these outdated, discriminatory requirements. The ACLU is leading efforts to change these policies on the state level with recent victories in Idaho, Oregon and Alaska. We applaud the Social Security Administration for making this change. The ACLU will continue efforts at the state and local level to ensure that transgender people are able to access identification documents that respect their privacy and accurately reflect their gender identity.
http://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/victory-social-security-administration-drops-surgery-requirement-gender-change
Thanks, Obama >> updated, Edith Windsor reacts
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023101179
Obama First POTUS in History to Publicly Support Divestment Movement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023144219
Howard Dean: Mandate Delay Begins Shift To Government-Financed Health Care System
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023162211
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)that first link, and the second proves my point: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3166739
Then again, there is more proof: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=212880&sub=trans
Again, thanks for the link.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)my ass. Your record calls you a liar.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)"Shameless duplicity upsets me."
...hilarious: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=212880&sub=trans
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)I'm still LMAO at the projecting.
bigtree
(85,996 posts)thanks, and Happy Independence Day!
ProSense
(116,464 posts)galileoreloaded
(2,571 posts)i really want to start a marketing business with you. i'm dead serious, and i'll even be a silent partner, cash contributions only. your ability to stay on message is striking.
together, we could sell anything to anyone....i salivate.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"your temerity is breathtaking"
...are you upset by my "temerity" for posting the OP containing the President's Weekly Address and a thank you to him?
"i really want to start a marketing business with you. i'm dead serious, and i'll even be a silent partner, cash contributions only. your ability to stay on message is striking.
together, we could sell anything to anyone....i salivate."
I'll pass, you're not convincing.
galileoreloaded
(2,571 posts)i honestly am very impressed. you are unshakable.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Not convincing. Work on it.
bigtree
(85,996 posts). . . is a rare, and (apparently, desirable) commodity.
What convinces is conviction. Believe in the argument you're advancing. If you don't you're as good as dead. The other person will sense that something isn't there, and no chain of reasoning, no matter how logical or elegant or brilliant, will win your case for you.
__ LYNDON B. JOHNSON