Gender Affirmation

Project

Changing one’s identification to align with who they know themselves to be is a major milestone and affirmation of their identity. These corrections have the potential to curb discrimination, violence, and having to be outed as transgender every time they have to present their ID.

Pride Center San Antonio is delighted to host our Gender Affirmation Project in partnership with St. Mary’s University School of Law Pro Bono Program and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. This partnership offers gender marker and name change clinics in San Antonio for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. The project aims to assist people align the gender presented on their government identifications and other documents with identifying information. 

Please note that the information and forms in the following guide are not legal advice and are not a substitute for the help of a lawyer.

The Pride Center San Antonio only collaborates with our partners in the legal community and cannot provide legal advice.

We encourage you to speak with an attorney if you have any questions about your particular situation.

What You Need to Know:

We strongly do NOT recommend navigating this process alone. The court documents for these cases can be very technical, and tiny errors can make a huge difference. It can be very stressful trying to navigate the process alone. We are here to help! Participating in our Gender Affirmation Project with St. Mary's University School of Law Pro Bono Program and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid is completely FREE, and you can be sure your case is handled correctly.

In order to proceed with a name and/or gender marker change, you will need to obtain or be in possession of the following:
 
~ A valid fingerprint card.
~ A doctor’s letter containing specific information and language.
~ Documents and information about any arrests, charges, and convictions you have received that are above a Class C misdemeanor, even if the charges were dropped. 
Alongside your documents, you will need to submit a petition to a district court with jurisdiction. If you are filing for a name change only, you must file in the county you reside in. If you are filing for a gender marker change only or both a name and gender marker change, you should only file in Travis County. Please see the instructions on the document linked below to file online:
 
 
Detailed instructions are linked in the other documents below:
 
Travis County
 
Your County of Residence
 
Go to a facility that can prepare a fingerprint card. You will need the actual card with wet ink on it and not a digital version. A doctor who has treated you or knows your medical history needs to type a letter similar to this template: (https://texaslawhelp.org/form/sample-physicians-letter-travis-county-gender-marker-court-order).
 
If applicable, fill out this Statement of Inability to Afford Costs to get your court fees waived if you cannot afford to pay. This is the current form: https://texaslawhelp.org/form/fee-waiver-bilingual-statement-of-inability-to-afford-payment-of-court-costs-or-an-appeal-bond.

If you are e-filing yourself, please see the instructions listed above.

Request at least four official copies of the signed court order. Make sure you keep one of those copies safe and secure.

Request at least four official copies of the signed court order. Make sure you keep one of those copies safe and secure.
 
Once you have obtained your signed court orders, your name and/or gender marker are not automatically changed on every government, public, or private record.
 
For any record/document for which you wish to change your name and/or gender marker, you will need to present your court order(s) to the agency, organization, office, etc., that is responsible for keeping and distributing said document/record.

As of August 2024, gender markers on Texas state documents (including driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and other forms of state ID) can no longer be changed unless due to clerical error. 

Similarly, the gender marker on federal documents can no longer be changed due as of January 2025.

The Pride Center San Antonio has remained in contact with multiple trusted sources across the United States, through which we have been informed that attempts to change the gender markers on U.S. passports have resulted in the seizure of all documents submitted with U.S. passport applications.

For Texas state and federal documents, DO NOT attempt to change a gender marker and DO NOT submit a court order containing a gender marker change for ANY REASON.

If you are interested in our name and gender marker change services, please submit the following form.

Please bear in mind that the Pride Center will NOT provide legal advice or answer specific questions about the name/gender marker change process.

View All

Programs

Click Here!

This page last updated: 1 / 31 / 2025.