x-sender: Governor.Haley@sc.lmhostediq.com x-receiver: Governor.Haley@sc.lmhostediq.com Received: from mail pickup service by IQ12 with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Tue, 1 Apr 2014 14:48:10 -0400 thread-index: Ac9N2u1oOOh4v84fT2aiRIUy5sMdJw== Thread-Topic: ATTN: Jamal From: To: Subject: ATTN: Jamal Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2014 14:48:09 -0400 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000 Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message Importance: normal Priority: normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7601.17609 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 01 Apr 2014 18:48:10.0036 (UTC) FILETIME=[ED880F40:01CF4DDA] CUSTOM Mr. Maximilien Lugh 2307 Brookside Dr Newberry SC 29108 max.lugh@gmail.com PRESS ATTN: Jamal Hi Jamal, Thanks for contacting me back. I'll try and lay everything out as briefly as I can. I started out trying to confirm there were no legislation or legal standards in place already specifically addressing what is required of a transgender person to amend the sex marker on their birth certificate. I've been calling and emailing around for a few weeks now, digging through scstatehouse.gov and LGBT legal websites which keep track of trans* related legislation, and what I have found thus far, and fairly definitively, is that there is open-ended legislation allowing amendments to birth certificates, but the specifics are vague and do not recognize trans* individuals in the situation of legally changing one's sex. I have also found that at current there is a loop hole to do so, and that one would need to petition a court to have a judge grant a court order to take to the Office of Vital Records to have the birth certificate amended, but the problem lies in there being no legal guidelines as to what is required to be regarded legally as the opposite sex. As I mentioned on the phone, many other states have guidelines like presenting a letter from a surgeon confirming the person has undergone sex reassignment surgery, or a letter from a doctor or therapist confirming they have been living as their indentified gender and/or been undergoing cross-sex hormone replacement therapy for a year or more, but no such guidelines exist for the state and leave any decision purely up to a judge's discretion, regardless of any real understanding of the issue. I'm sure you can see how problematic this is. There is of course also the issue that requiring sex reassignment surgery is not ideal, as not all trans* people feel the need to undergo SRS, and even those who do are often limited access due to the high expense of surgery. I could go on and explain why this requirement is problematic based on gender theory, but, politics isn't psychology. At the very least, I think some form of legal recognition for trans* South Carolinians, like myself, is imperative for the safety and dignity of those citizens. A brief example of why (and not a far-reaching one, as this is the case for many trans* people who have been unable to make their legal and identified genders congruent) is that a trans* woman who presents, lives, and is perceived as a woman must out herself every time she is required to provide ID, be it for a job interview, applying for a loan, or at a bar. When you consider how uneducated the general public still is on the reality of trans* issues and the unfortunate and bleak statistics of the disproportionate amount of trans* people who are un- or underemployed, impoverished, and subjected to violence and sexual assault, it becomes a matter of protection to facilitate trans* people being able to legally present themselves as, well, themselves. That being said, where I am now is trying to get in touch with other trans* South Carolinians who have used the legal loop holes available to change their sex marker to try and determine what the current trends, and problems, may be, and to compose a formal proposal to submit to the state urging at least some form of legal recognition for trans* South Carolinians. In this regard, I admit myself to be entirely ignorant. I am not sure what will be required of me as far as a convincing amount of evidence for the need of such an amendment, if I need to have some support by a legislator, through what channels to submit the proposal, etc... Any suggestions or directions you can point me in would be much appreciated, as the issue in our dear but deeply conservative state is difficult to get any information on. Most of the departments I've spoken with have been kind and as helpful as possible, but the social climate of ignorance and misconception of the issue have made it a hard pursuit. Thanks so much again for getting in contact with me and I hope you'll have some good advice on where I should proceed from here. If you have any questions to better understand what I'd like and/or should do, please feel free to ask, either by email or phone call. Best regards, Max Lugh max.lugh@gmail.com 803.767.7066