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

[tgenerico]

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.

[RKP5637]

1. It must be horribly difficult and frustrating. And the majority of this nation has

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

[SoCalNative]

2. Just curious

will a U.S. Passport not be accepted as ID in any states requiring voter ID?

[tgenerico]

3. Yes it will, but even there ...

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

[SoCalNative]

4. But you only need to have a name change

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.

[tgenerico]

5. The question is looking like the photo. n/t

[SoCalNative]

6. And when you update your passport

you will look like the photo

[ga_girl]

7. Personal opinion - having cross sexed identification isn't a big deal

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.