How To Update Your Gender Marker

You will need a gender marker court order or a letter from a licensed physician certifying that you have undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition. The Louisiana OMV typically requires this documentation to update the gender marker. 

Take your court order or your physician's letter to your local Louisiana OMV office. 

Make sure you also bring your current Louisiana state ID and any other required identification documents such as your birth certificate, Social Security card, or proof of residency. 

At the OMV, you may be required to complete an application to update your state ID. The OMV staff will help process your request to change your gender marker. 

There may be a fee associated with updating your state ID. The exact fee can vary, so check with the local OMV office for the current amount. 

After the documentation is processed, you will receive your updated Louisiana state ID with your new gender marker. 

You need to file a petition in a Louisiana state court requesting a change in your gender marker. The process is typically handled in the civil district court of the parish where you live or where you were born. For incarcerated individuals, there is no specific language regarding where they must file, thus they may file in the parish of their residence or their birth. 

Petitions seeking gender marker correction are filed against the Louisiana State Registrar of Vital Records. You are allowed to seek both a name correction and gender marker correction at the same time in the same pleading. If you also are getting a name change, then name the District Attorney as a defendant as well. 

Costs: Court fees vary by parish, and there will be additional fees will be for amending the birth certificate through Vital Records. The costs of filing the initial petition, motion to set for trial, and requisite exhibits to gain judgment can be upwards of $1,000 in some jurisdictions. You may qualify to proceed in forma pauperis and you may be able to submit the petition in support of your request to proceed without the burden of costs. For more information, see Asking the Court For A Fee Delayer Application - In Forma Pauperis (IFP).

For more information and to see the complete process of getting a gender marker court order, see How to Get a Gender Marker Court Order. 

Make sure you get multiple certified copies of the final judgment. After getting the court order, submit it to the Louisiana Department of Health (Vital Records Office) along with a request to amend your birth certificate within ten days of getting your final judgment. The application to Vital Records must include certified copies of the original Petition and final judgment. Those copies will not be returned but will be maintained in a sealed envelope attached to their original birth record at Vital Records. 

You will also need to pay the applicable fee to amend the birth certificate.

Each application is assigned a case manager and a case number with Vital Records. You may need to follow up with the case manager for regular progress updates if the application is pending with Vital Records. You can use the gender marker judgment to update other important records if you're still waiting. 

Once the Vital Records Office processes the court order and updates the gender marker, they will issue you a new birth certificate reflecting the change.