Get a court order that confirms your gender change

Important information

Aviso importante: Durante 2025, la información relacionada con los derechos sobre identificaciones federales y el sexo/género en los registros federales ha cambiado rápidamente. Una orden ejecutiva emitida en 2025 prohibió temporalmente los cambios de sexo o género en los registros y documentos federales de identidad. Esto incluyó pasaportes, registros de la Seguridad Social, registros relacionados con tribus y con la Oficina de Asuntos Indígenas (BIA), registros de inmigración y otros registros federales. Estas prohibiciones están siendo impugnadas mediante demandas. 

A partir de enero de 2026, no se podrá cambiar la designación de sexo o género que figura en el pasaporte u otros documentos de identidad federales. Si solicita cambiar su pasaporte, independientemente de las pruebas que presente, se le podría expedir un pasaporte con el sexo que figura en su certificado de nacimiento original.

What is my legal gender? 

The concept of “legal gender” is complicated. If you’re transgender, nonbinary, intersex, gender diverse, or have experienced a sex or gender change, you might need to make decisions related to changing the sex or gender that’s listed on your various IDs and records. If you do, it can help to know what defines your legal gender. Legal gender usually is the sex or gender that’s listed on various government IDs and records. 

In Washington state, discrimination protections include both sex and gender and treat them interchangeably. Gender expression and gender identity are included in the state law and are defined in the state law as: "having or being perceived as having a gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression, whether or not that gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression is different from that traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that person at birth".

Your gender identity and lived experience might not match your legal gender that is listed on your records or various IDs. Your legal gender on various IDs might not define your gender identity and lived experience of your gender and sex. A sex or gender assignment or designation on your records can affect many parts of your daily life. In Washington state, protections include gender identity and gender expression, not just sex or gender assignment.

¿Qué define mi género legal a nivel federal?

Si usted nació en Estados Unidos y sus padres o tutores le registraron para obtener una tarjeta del Seguro Social al nacer, el sexo que se indicó primero en su acta de nacimiento fue reportada a la Administración de la Seguridad Social (SSA). Esa designación de sexo se convirtió en el sexo que se registró primero en su registro de la Seguridad Social. El sexo que se registró primero en su registro de la Seguridad Social se considera más comúnmente su “género legal” federal. Esto se llama su “Identificación de Sexo en el Registro de la Seguridad Social.” Ese sexo es el sexo que el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional y el Departamento de Estado pueden averiguar aunque usted lo haya cambiado después.

• Si usted solicitó una tarjeta del Seguro Social más adelante en su vida o aplicó para un Seguro Social durante su proceso de ciudadanía, el sexo que se le asignó en esa solicitud será su Identificación de Sexo en el Registro de la Seguridad Social.
• Si usted no tiene una tarjeta del Seguro Social y vive en el estado de Washington, lo más probable es que su género legal sea el género que aparece en su identificación estatal con foto.
• Si la única identificación que usted ha tenido es un acta de nacimiento, entonces el sexo en su acta de nacimiento sería su género legal. 

Algún tipo de registro de su sexo o género existe en muchos lugares que no necesariamente incluyen un marcador de género o de sexo visible como el que aparece en su identificación con foto. 

Do I need a court order to change my legal gender?

No. In Washington, you don’t need a court order to change the gender that is on your state ID. If you were born in Washington, you don’t need a court order to change the sex on your birth certificate. If your birth place requires you to get a court order to change the sex on your birth certificate, that will require a different kind of court order than the forms in this guide. If you need a court order to change your birth certificate, use the forms in our other guide to get that kind of court order.

You can’t currently change the sex or gender on certain federal IDs even if you get a court order that confirms you have had a sex change. The ban currently impacts Social Security changes. As of June 2025, you can change the sex on your passport while the lawsuit about the passport ban continues. 

Why should I get a court order that confirms my sex or gender change?

Whether to get this kind of court order is entirely personal and dependent on your situation and needs. Many trans+ and gender diverse people never get this kind of court order. Others will want to get one for personal, safety, or identity record reasons. You might need or want this kind court order if any of these are true:

• Your birth state won’t allow birth certificate changes. This kind of order is the most “official” kind of legal gender change record you can get.
• Federal law changes made it hard for you to get other IDs that reflect your actual lived gender experience and identity.
• You need this kind of court order to meet a requirement for an identity or personal record, for example to change a school transcript.
• It causes you distress to not have a legal confirmation of your sex or gender change. Getting this kind of court order will help ease that distress.
• You want the security of having a court order that confirms your gender change. If you have this kind of court order, you can’t be accused of fraud or lying for outwardly living as a different gender from what you were assigned at birth.

What if I need a court order to change my birth certificate?

That requires a different kind of order with very special language. Use our other guide to learn how to ask for a birth certificate amendment court order for a non-Washington birth certificate.

Can I combine this with a name change case and just use the same court order?

Most courts won’t allow it, except in rare circumstances. It’s hard to combine them into the same case unless the judge has special jurisdiction, such as in juvenile or family law cases. 

Typically, a court order confirming a gender change must come from the Superior Court where you live. But a name change court order can come from any District Court in the state. While a sealed name change order can also come from any Superior Court, you must follow special rules, deal with special issues and use the court’s own form. Combining a sealed name change request with a request for a gender change court is hard and may not be allowed because they use different laws and different forms. 

Some judges might let you combine a gender change confirmation with a sealed name change case but you should let the judge decide that and let the judge draft a special combined order or 2 separate orders. 

Combining cases, even where allowed, may also be less safe. You must show your name change order frequently throughout life. If it also has your gender change listed on it, it will also expose your gender change to anyone who sees the order. It may be safer to keep your name change order separate from your gender change confirmation order. 

Should I get this court order before or after I legally change my name?

It depends on your goals. 

• You might want to do your gender change confirmation court order first if you want that court record to be listed under your old name so that your new name isn’t associated with a gender change court record.
• If you plan to get a name change, you can choose to get your legal name change first. If you do it that way, the court order confirming your gender change does so using the name you want to live with currently. If you do it this way, you must show the judge your name change order if you must prove who you are using mismatched IDs.

If you do your gender change court order using your old name, you must show copies of your name change order and the gender change court order any time you must use your gender confirmation court order to correct a record.