MILWAUKEE — Getting an ID that reflects your gender identity can be difficult for someone who is transgender.
"It can really be a lot for someone to undertake and stay on top of," said Bex Streit, the transgender and gender non-conforming program coordinator at the MKE LGBT Community Center.
Making it even more difficult to cast a ballot in Wisconsin. According to a study from the UCLA School of Law, of the nearly 11,000 eligible transgender voters in the state, nearly half do not have IDs that reflect their correct name and gender.
"If they say, 'Well your gender marker says female but the person standing in front of me doesn't look like a woman. Are you trying to commit voter fraud? What is going on?' You have to out yourself in front of a whole group of people," said Streit.
Streit is a transgender man who's gone through the name-change process. He believes the bigger issue is the extent people have to go through in order to meet these requirements.
If you plan on changing your name or gender in Wisconsin, the process can be pretty extensive.
- In Milwaukee, it will cost you nearly $400 to go through the entire process.
- You have to file a petition with your local courts and go before a judge.
- You also have to publish your name or gender change in the local paper, for three consecutive weeks
"All of those things inspired me to want to do this kind of work," said Streit.
Now, Streit is dedicated to breaking down those barriers by advocating that the courts remove the newspaper publication requirement, waive all name and gender-changing fees, and ease Wisconsin's voter ID laws.
"We just need to make it easier for people to get to the polls," said Streit. "If only a certain portion of that population is voting then they are not being represented on a larger scale."
For help on how to navigate the name/gender-changing process at the MKE LGBT Community Center, visit their website.
To view the Wisconsin Court's self-help law center regarding name/gender-changing requirements, visit Wisconsin Court's website.