Social Security Will Allow Users to Select Own Gender Marker
The Social Security Administration will now allow people to self-select their gender on their Social Security number record.The policy, announced Wednesday, is effective immediately.“The Social Security Administration’s Equity Action Plan includes a commitment to decrease administrative burdens and ensure people who identify as gender diverse or transgender have options in the Social Security number card application process,” Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi said in a press release. “This new policy allows people to self-select their sex in our records without needing to provide documentation of their sex designation.”Those who update their gender marker in Social Security’s records will need to apply for a replacement Social Security card.
They will still need to show a current document to prove their identity, but they will no longer need to provide medical or legal documentation of their sex designation now that the policy change is in place.The agency will accept the applicant’s self-identified designation of either male or female, even if it is different from the designation shown on identity documents, such as a passport or state-issued driver’s license or identity card.
SSN cards do not include sex markers. Currently, Social Security’s record systems are unable to include a nonbinary or unspecified sex designation.
The agency is exploring possible future policy and systems updates to support an X gender designation for the card application process.“We applaud the Social Security Administration taking this step to modernize the process for changing the gender marker on someone’s records,” Olivia Hunt, policy director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, told The Advocate via email.
