According to the
National Center for Transgender Equality, DHS is promoting changes to existing rules regarding employee information with the Social Security Administration.
In the normal course of business employers are required to submit employee data to the SSA. The SSA will compare this information against it's own records and send a "No-Match" letter if something doesn't match.
They're mostly looking for illegal aliens, but for the Transgendered, the devil -- as always -- is in the details.
The SSA current rules only allow you to change your SSA gender marker if you can prove that you've had GRS/SRS (commonly referred to as a "sex change operation"). This is problematic because it's very expensive -- $20K for MtoF $100K for FtoM, and you have to live full time in the target gender for a year before most reputable doctors will perform the surgery.
If the SSA decides to compare gender-markers -- and as far as the NCTE can tell, they aren't required to -- and they don't match, then they'll generate a "No-Match" letter to your employer.
If you're not out to your employer, then you've got to pray you can keep your job and survive in a job where everyone knows that you're transgendered.
These no-match letters go out under the current rules. The proposed new rules would increase the documentation required and impose strict time limits on getting information changed - making a difficult situation for the transgendered, even worse.
One of four specific concerns that NCTE has raised:
Gender no-match letters are an invasion of private and privileged medical information. NCTE recommends that gender not be a piece of information that is transmitted or considered between employers and DHS/SSA. Because of SSA's own policies, a person's gender is private medical information.
I will be contacting my US Rep and Senators' offices tomorrow to voice my concerns. If anyone has any other good idea's, I'm open to them.
Note - this is my first diary, please be kind(ish).