Signaling a shift for the organization after the passage of same-sex marriage, Equality Illinois has released a guide that helps transgender Illinoisans navigate name changes and gender marker revisions on state documents.
The organization announced the 44-page "Guide to Name and Gender Marker Changes"
in a media statement Jan. 7.
"Negotiating your way through all of the additional hoops you have to go through as a trans person is difficult enough, even in a state that has made as much progress as Illinois. One of the benefits of this resource is its comprehensiveness to provide quick answers to unavoidable questions," said Christina Kahrl, an Equality Illinois board member who sits on the organization's Transgender Leadership Council, in the statement.
The guide covers documentation change including Illinois driver's licenses, birth certificates, social security cards and passports.
The new resource comes just two months after Illinois saw the passage of marriage equality, a major goal for Equality Illinois and a major funding source for its advocacy work. In other states that have passed same-sex marriage legislation, local groups have tended to shift focus to transgender rights, which have largely trailed mainstream gay rights issues.
A number of local LGBT groups, Equality Illinois included, have already been active on transgender issues for years. Last year saw the opening of Chicago House's TransLife Center, a home for transgender Chicagoans that houses legal, employment and other services. In 2012, The Civil Rights Agenda, another statewide equality organization, launched a Transgender Rights Project.
Kahrl said Equality Illinois will also be redoubling efforts on transgender rights, where work remains.
"This is part of the natural lifecycle of all LGBT rights organizations," Kahrl said.
She said that Equality Illinois will focus on other trans issues going into 2014. The organization wants to ensure that transgender Illinoisans have gender-related healthcare covered in the Affordable Care Act. It is also hoping to improve conditions for transgender people detained in jails and prisons in Illinois and advocate for slight changes to Illinois High School Association guidelines for high school athletics.
Kahrl said that Illinois is ahead of the curve when it comes to transgender policy but noted that trans advocates are continuing to push for policy change, especially when it comes to rules governing Illinois birth certificates.
Kahrl said Equality Illinois will be happy to play a supporting role to organizations like Chicago House and Lambda Legal already heading up those efforts.
As for the new document guide, Kahrl said, that resource has been in the works for several months.
The Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois, a transgender criminal defense organization, has been helping people with name changes in Chicago since 2011. Kahrl acknowledged that work and said she hopes Equality Illinois can serve as a resource outside of Cook County.
According to the press release, the Illinois Bar Foundation and the Tawani Foundation, Jen Pritzker's charitable organization, supported the publication.
The guide can be accessed at: tinyurl.com/EQIL-Name-Toolkit.
