How to get a Legal name and Gender Change in NYC?

I'm a transsexual male living in New York City. I've had surgery and been going through hormone therapy for 9 months now. The next step for me is to have my legal name and gender on my legal files to my desired name and correct gender. I tried calling the Urban Justice Center for Teens. ( I'm 18 ) But they haven't responded to my questions. I want to know where I can start and what I need to know to get the information on my birth certificate changed.How to get a Legal name and Gender Change in NYC?
Hey,

Go to the LGBT center at 208 W 13th. There's a subgroup called the Gender Identity Project. Whatever you might think of other trans folks -- and we're a varied lot -- and however crunchy you find the sometime emphais on MTF stuff in some groups -- you can find people there who have been through this themselves or helped others through it a thousand times.



Remember that anything as long lasting as the GIP has many different kinds of people in it and don't give up until you get what you need. Go to a drop in group enough times to meet someone who has been through the drill, and persist! They are not user friendly because they don't have the budget for it, but the people themselves really give a damn, you just have to wait (and remember that the 100 people with prior appointments are sometimes in dire straits indeed) If you go on and become incredibly rich, give something back if you can...



I went the other direction in NYC in the mid 90s. There are some great resources in NY and also a lot of people milling around the different stages of transition.



As a practical matter, you will want to start with a legal name change where you stand up in court and change your first name (and whatever else you want, pick carefully). They will offer notarized letters to you for an exorbant fee -- get 10! You'll need them. Get a doctor's letter alluding to the ';real life test'; (even if you find this ridiculous, get the letter). Then you trot the name change around to the DMV and Social Security and ask them to do gender at the same time. Go to offices in Manhattan (I did, and while I have no idea if it made the slightest difference, it sure felt safer!). That's pretty much the drill, though the best source is always someone who has done it in the last few months (which you will find at a GIP group, albeit not without some social interaction).



Once you've done this, you're in as good a shape as any trans person can be, shy bottom surgery (alas, that's the way its set up now, which is grossly unfair to FTMs...top surgery won't get your passport or birth certificate changed). You probably cannot get legal files per se changed, and the change will become part of any ongoing litigation or procedure -- not to your benefit, prima facie, though you may have just become too much bother to deal with, depending.) They do change your records going forward.



Your critical question is, does NYC allow birth certificate changes after bottom surgery. Since this is always in flux and most state employees don't have a clue, the best answer will come from those who have recently interacted with the system (hence GIP).



Hope this helps a little.How to get a Legal name and Gender Change in NYC?
I think it is just a case of going to the DMV. In Oklahoma all that transsexuals have to do is go to the equivalent agency. I have a ';sister'; in law who had the same issue.



Just to let you know that life is good, she started her process at 18, today is 25, married to a great guy and is planning to adopt a child from China. I love my sister and could not be more proud of her. Keep your head up, life can be good.