Hello! I'm Bryn and this guide is my little project. In 2018 I started looking into changing my name and gender marker on my passport, and got so overwhelmed by the lack of a comprehensive walkthrough and the volume of apparently-conflicting information that I gave up. In mid-2019 I tried again and with some assistance figured it out, and so in early 2020 I decided to write up the entire process to make it easier for other people to do the same, and post it on my Mastodon account. Later that year it occurred to me to expand that Mastodon thread into a larger guide to dealing with bureaucracy while trans, and that's how this came about!
This guide is angled mostly towards the process of changing both your name and your gender marker on paperwork. If you're only changing your name all these processes will probably be a lot simpler. If you're only changing your gender marker it should be simple enough to find the relevant bits in the guides.
I've tried to make it clear which processes are tried and tested, and which are only based on information I can find. If you can confirm whether or not a part of the guide works, you're able to contribute a write-up to my project, you find any inaccuracies/gaps/typos/broken links in what I've written, there's anything else you'd like me to cover, you have an idea about how to make the site more accessible, or you have anything else to tell me about, please get in contact with me at brynrowan[at]protonmail.com! Of course, anything might change at any time without my noticing, and I can't guarantee the accuracy of what I've written - I'm just doing my best.
Find the full list of guides here.
| deadname: | a name you were previously called that you no longer use, often that you changed when you came out as trans |
|---|---|
| gender marker: | usually M or F, sometimes also N or X, the gender that's designated on a document. May or may not be the same as your gender |
| Gender Recognition Certificate: | a document that legally "proves" your gender is your real gender. N.B. as far as possible I've provided ways to work around not having one of these, as it's a lengthy, costly and often humiliating process to obtain one |
| GIC: | gender identity clinic |
| GP: | general practicioner, your usual doctor |
| GRC: | Gender Recognition Certificate (see above) |
| real gender: | the gender you know yourself to be; probably not the one you were assigned at birth if you're here |
| real name: | I use this term to refer to your current chosen name (which may or may not be the name you were given when you were born) |