Since We're Such Good Friends

I decided now would be a good time to share my passport with the internet:



So today there's this:

Washington Post: State [Department] eases rules for changing gender on passports
CNN: Surgery no longer a requirement for changing gender on passport

This is a very good thing.

I lose enough sleep imagining how I'm going to explain to strangers with power why I feel it necessary to cross international borders to, say, hang out with queer people on roller skates. Or go mountain biking. In Manitoba. (True story). Or why my car appears to be held together with duct tape and bumper stickers.

You can imagine how much sleep I lose about having to explain what I am, why I have what appear to be tits, or answer any number of impertinent questions. These are scary and dangerous propositions.

This new policy isn't a panacea. It still requires folks to get a letter from a doctor, something that can be (a) difficult, (b) expensive, and (c) undesirable. Most trans people have a hard enough time accessing health care, and some of us don't want to be on hormones or otherwise be involved with an "attending physician."

Passports are pretty expensive, too. And frankly, I'm not so hot on the idea of having to show anything to cross arbitrary borders.

Still, I am very happy at the moment.