Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance (INTRAA)

Where’s the Rulebook for Sex Verification?

Tuesday, 08. 25. 2009  –  Section: Featured, TransNews

Caster Semenya, the world-champion runner from South Africa, is facing allegations from her competitors that she's "not really a woman." This well-written piece from the NY Times sheds some light on the many natural variations in gender development. (click here)

NCTE’s New “SSA Gender No-Match Letters” Guide

Tuesday, 01. 8. 2008  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

NCTE has released a new guide for transgender individuals who have received a letter under the Social Security Administration's unfair gender "no-match" employment letter policy. Social Security Gender No-Match Letters and Transgender Employees - Information for Employees explains what Social Security no-match letters are and what transgender employees can do if the subject of one of these letters. Anyone who has been confused, curious, or concerned about Social Security gender no-match letters will find this information clarifying. More ...

Blog Post by INTRAA President Picked Up by Washington Blade

Monday, 12. 3. 2007  –  Section: INTRAAupdates, Vault

Our work includes many outreach activities and writings. In one such activity, our current president, Vivian Benge, wrote a blog post for , an LGBT blog, about change in the Department of Homeland Security's "no match" policy. This post has been picked up by the Washington Blade. See the post on the Washington Blade website in the right-hand column. Read the post over at Bilerico.com.

Indiana BMV Stops Practice of Using Gender to Invalidate Driver Licenses

Tuesday, 11. 27. 2007  –  Section: INTRAAupdates, Vault

December 1, 2007 Information Alert From INTRAA and the National Center for Transgender Equality The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has agreed to immediately discontinue using gender mismatches solely as a reason for invalidating driver licenses. Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance (INTRAA) and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) successfully worked with officials at the Indiana BMV to bring about this policy change. On November 6th, the Indiana BMV began issuing warning letters to people in the BMV database whose ...

DHS Drops New “No Match” Enforcement Procedures

Wednesday, 11. 21. 2007  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

November 20, 2007 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has dropped its attempt at enforcing their new "No Match" enforcement procedures, issued in mid-August. The enforcement procedures encountered obstacles from the beginning with a lawsuit by labor and immigration groups blocking the rule's progress only a couple weeks after their issuance. During the rule's open-comment period, many organizations, including NCTE, filed comments opposing adoption of the rules, arguing that the procedures would unfairly jeopardize workers' jobs. The DHS rules would have required ...

NCTE Advisory: Real ID Act Regulations Released

Thursday, 03. 1. 2007  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

(Washington, DC) — Today the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued long overdue final draft regulations for implementation of the Real ID Act. These regulations represent the requirements states are being told to follow for standardization of driver’s licenses, verification of citizenship status, and information matching between state and federal databases. Only new IDs that meet the Real ID Act standard will be acceptable for federal purposes such as air travel or entering courthouses. Due to great displeasure from ...

NCTE Wins Grant for New “Privacy and Documentation Project”

Saturday, 02. 24. 2007  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

NCTE has been awarded a significant two-year grant to start a much needed Privacy and Documentation Project. While NCTE will raise additional funds to fully resource the program, this grant will allow us to jump start the Project. NCTE's Privacy and Documentation Project will expand upon the work we are already doing around the REAL ID Act, the new privacy rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), employment I-9 "no match" letters, and the tightening of identification document ...

NCTE Offers Advice on Educating Law Enforcement

Tuesday, 08. 29. 2006  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

Police departments have policies that instruct officers about their interactions with the public. Some jurisdictions have explicit policies about transgender people while others do not. Some important factors to consider when creating a policy: Police officers should never stop an individual solely because of that person's gender presentation. Being transgender is not a crime. It is legal in the United States to cross-dress, to transition and ...

New Homeland Security Rule Would Out Transgender People at Work

Tuesday, 08. 15. 2006  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) receives calls regularly from transgender people across the country who have been "outed" to their employers by the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) unfair gender "no-match" employment letter policy. We continue to work with individuals to mitigate the impact these letters are having on people's medical privacy and employment security. Background SSA regularly checks to make sure that all persons working in the United States are the actual holders of the SSN that they put ...

NY Court Denies Transgender Man’s Name Change

Monday, 07. 10. 2006  –  Section: TransNews, Vault

A New York court has ruled that a transgender man must provide proof of transition to legally change his name. This was the second ruling against Evan (legally Sarah) Rockefeller's name change in the case by State Supreme Court Justice William P. Polito. According to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Polito denied Rockefeller's name change because it "lack any medical, psychiatric or psychological corroborative support concerning the petitioner's alleged psychological/anatomical sexual conflict." Further, Polito has suggested that Rockefeller use his ...