Get a court order that confirms your gender change

Important information:

Important Notice: During 2025, the information related to federal ID rights and sex/gender on federal records is changing rapidly. An executive order issued earlier in 2025 temporarily banned sex or gender changes on federal identity records and documents. This included passports, Social Security records, tribal and BIA related records, immigration records and other federal records. These bans are being challenged by lawsuits. 

The ACLU’s lawsuit about the passport ban got back the right to change passports as of June 18, 2025 through a temporary preliminary injunction. This means that the case isn’t done yet but that gender diverse people can resume changing their passports while the case continues. It is possible that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will similarly update their systems to allow sex changes again later this summer but currently the SSA can’t process sex changes for their records.

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. Our other guide answers common questions about what defines your legal gender.

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. 

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. 

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.

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 DistrictCourt 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.