The Name Game

Hi.

If you are like me and you are transgender then you may have already gone through the wonderful process of getting your name legally changed (BTW, yes, I am being sarcastic).

So here is a little history about me.

I am a 60-year-old transwoman.  That means that I was assigned male at birth (God I hate that phrase) and at some point, in my life I realized that I should have been born a girl.

On a bit of a side note, don’t every make the statement to someone like me that “they” choose to change genders.  I did not want this; I did not ask for this and if I was given a choice, I would have rather been like all the other people who never questioned their gender.

So back to the history.

I started my transition in 2017 (hormones) and socially transitioned (started presenting) in 2019. 

In 2021 I filed for a legal name change in Clark County Nevada.  It only took the court ten calendar days to decide to grant my request but took around a month to send the required certified copies.

Of course, this was all during the COVID-19 pandemic (courtesy of China) which meant that almost all of the government agencies I needed to go to were closed to walk in traffic.

Social Security was not accepting any walk ins and it was nigh on impossible to get an appointment but there was a way to apply for a name change through the mail.  The only catch was I had to send my drivers license of which I only had one at the time.

Fortunately, I was able to order a duplicate via the DMV website which cost me $20.00 and several weeks and voila, I had a completed application in the mail to change the name on my social security card.

That arrived within two weeks and along with my duplicate DL and to this day the letter than came with it along with the part you detach from the card are proudly displayed on my bedroom wall. 

It’s official, Meeka has arrived.

Not so fast.

Everything else that I needed to do, banks, utilities, my employers, and the VA required that I change my state ID first.

Remember that wonderful Corona Virus?  That’s right, it was still fucking everything up.

The soonest I could get an appointment at the DMV was several months away which I scheduled but I didn’t stop there.  I had heard that they would allow walk-ins if your got in line early enough so off I went.

So it was only after getting up at 0 dark 30 and waiting in line for two and a half hours I find out they only let in the first 50 people in line. 

Fuck.

After this I took a more long-distance view on the process.  Basically, I decided to wait it out and after a couple of months my appointment finally came.  My DMV visit was very quick and relatively painless and in two weeks I was finally in possession of a driver’s license with the right name (the picture sucks).

So armed with copies of my court order and DL I got my bank, utilities and AAA changed.  My employers were next (yes, I work two jobs) and they were anticlimactic which suits me fine.

To this day I’m still battling with the Veterans Administration and at some point, I will get me military records all reissued with the correct name (USMC Semper Fi).

Along with the VA I’m still trying to change my car insurance, casino players cards and some little odds and ends like PayPal.

In the end it feels pretty good when everything is correct.  Most of the mail I am getting is now addressed correctly with some exceptions that I’m sure will never go away.

Is it worth all the hassles?

Hell yes!

Forever Meeka

P.S.  I would like to thank Sara Bartel and Ray MacFarlane of the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada for their help putting the paperwork together.  Without them I doubt I would have gotten this done.

Do you have a question or want to make a comment about the blog or it’s content?  Please contact me at IronicallyMeeka@gmail.com. 

Thank you for reading.

Meeka