What is my legal gender?

Important Notice: During 2025, the information related to federal ID rights and sex/gender on federal records is changing rapidly. There is a current federal ban on changing the sex or gender on federal records including your passport and Social Security records. Other federal record and ID information will be affected including immigration related records, Bureau of Indian Affairs records and others. Passports that have already had a sex designation change at some time previously could be reverted back to the sex that was assigned on your original birth certificate record when the passport expires or is renewed. There might also be risks for trying to renew your passport if you have had a gender related name change and your name change order also lists a sex or gender change.

What is my legal gender? 

The concept of “legal gender” is complicated. Legal gender usually is the sex or gender that is listed on various government IDs and records. 

Your gender identity and lived experience might not match your legal gender. Your legal gender might not define your gender identity and lived experience of your gender and sex. 

Is my legal gender the sex or gender that is listed on my birth certificate?

No, not exactly. There are many records that have your sex or gender listed on them. No single record or ID exclusively controls what is called your “legal gender.” Historically, no single government or agency rule defines what is your legal gender. This is because so many various records can affect the sex designations that are used in a person’s daily life. 

Even if you get a court order proving your sex change, your legal gender will be defined by each type of record and situation as you deal with them individually.

For example:

• If you must show photo ID during an interaction, usually in that situation the sex that is listed on that specific photo ID will be considered to be your legal gender.
• If your credit is checked, the sex that is listed on your Social Security record can show up on the credit report record. In that situation, the sex on your Social Security record would be your legal gender.
• When you apply for a job, if the employer asks for your sex, usually you will list the sex that is on your state photo ID or whatever photo ID you provide to your employer to verify your identity. You will usually have to provide your Social Security card or proof of work permit but those won’t have your sex on the card itself.
• If your employer does a background check when you are hired that includes checking full records from Social Security or a credit check, then your employer might be able to see the sex that is listed on your Social Security record.

When you are born, doctors, birth professionals, and your parents assign you a sex on your birth certificate or birth record. Historically in the U.S., newborns have been assigned either Female or Male. Recently, some places also began to issue newborns a birth certificate with an intersex designation or other kind of sex identifier if appropriate. In some places, after a person is born, a parent or the person themself can ask for the sex designation that is on the birth certificate to be changed. 

What defines my legal gender at the federal level?

If you were born in the U.S. and were registered for a Social Security card at your birth by your parents or guardians, the sex that was first listed on your birth certificate was reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA). That sex designation became the sex that was first listed on your Social Security record. The sex that was first listed on your Social Security Record is most commonly considered to be your federal “legal gender”. This is called your “Sex Identification on the Social Security Record”. That sex is the sex that Homeland Security and the Department of State can find out even if you changed it later.

• If you applied for a Social Security card later on in your life or applied for a Social Security during your citizenship process, the sex you were assigned on that application will be your Sex Identification on the Social Security Record.
• If you don’t have a Social Security card and live in Washington state, your legal gender would most likely be the gender that is listed on your state photo ID.
• If the only ID that you have ever had is a birth certificate, then the sex on your birth certificate would be your legal gender. 

Some kind of record of your sex or gender exists in many places that don’t necessarily include a visible gender marker or sex designation like your photo ID has on it. 

What if I am under 18? Who decides my legal gender?

That question is hard to answer simply. It depends on many things including: 

• Which adult helps you make decisions in your life
• Whether you are emancipated or not
• Where you were born
• Whether a parenting plan makes decisions about certain things in your life
• Which IDs you want to change to have reflect your lived gender (if any)

Usually, the gender or sex that will show up on all your school records and at your jobs would be the sex that is on your Social Security record. But for people under 18, the sex that is on your birth certificate can be used a lot too. 

You can ask your employer to make sure your badge or anything else visible to coworkers and customers does have your chosen identifiers on it even if your legal records haven’t been changed. 

You can get an ID in Washington as a teenager and you can choose “X”, “M” or “F” for your WA state ID. Your school might change all the visible records except your transcript to match that ID. It is very hard to change school transcripts in most places without a court order. If you get a court ordered name change, your school should change your name on your transcripts.  Even if you don’t legally change your name, your school still has to follow Washington rules about letting you use your chosen name and pronouns at school even if they can’t change them on your transcript. You should ask your school about what is required to change your sex or gender if it is listed on your transcript. 

Changing your gender on your permanent school and work records can be very complicated for people who are under 18 depending on your situation. If you need help with your school, try to get legal help from Team Child. If you are a houseless youth, get in touch with Legal Counsel for Youth and Children to see if they can help you with your ID changes.