Really Screwed
11.08.2005Documentation requirements, the bane of trans folks existence, just got worse.
In May 2005, Congress passed the "Real ID" Act, which requires states - starting in May 2008 — to issue federally approved driver’s licenses or identification (ID) cards to those who live
and work in the U.S.
And where were the Dems on this one, folks?
The Real ID Act’s identity cards will be required not only if one wants to drive, but also if one seeks to visit a federal government building, collect Social Security, access a federal
government service, or use the services of a private entity (such as a bank or an airline) that is required under federal law to verify customer identity. (emphasis mine)
For those of us not able to obtain the necessary surgeries and pieces of paper - assuming one wants them - we are Really, Really, Really Screwed.
Should we plan on moving to Canada? Or how about rushing all those nice queers who have told me (and presumably other trannies) that I should just breath through the trauma of the Docementation Drama that has consumed hours and hours and hours of my life?
Because, you know, most people are stupid. That’s why I, and we, should suck it up.
But at what point does stupidity become a systematic, albeit unacknowledged, effort to disenfranchise folks who can’t/won’t/don’t fit in either M or F?