Daily London
There’s a frustrating problem: her expired UK passport still has her dead name and lists her gender as male.
Formally changing this from her home in Australia is complicated, slow and costly.
“I could apply for a passport in my old name and my old gender, but to be honest, that becomes really humiliating.”
Evans also wants her name and gender changed on other government documents, including tax and pension documents.
She initiated contact with the Gender Recognition Panel in the UK to have this rectified.
Emails seen by nine.com.au show Evans was instructed to provide medical evidence from doctors registered in the UK and documentary evidence for the past two years.
Evans needs a letter from a gender specialist for the passport change.
“In the UK this can be from a GP but applying from Australia it has to be from a gender specialist,” Evans added.
If this is not accepted, the gender specialist will need to be from the UK and it can cost anywhere between $1100 to $1700.
“I have been warned by those in the community this does happen,” she said.
If she lived in NSW, Queensland, WA or the ACT, which are approved “overseas routes” for gender recognition, all Evans would need is her Australian Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) for the other documents.
But South Australia is not on the list of approved states or territories for this route.
She will need a GRC from a specialist in the UK.
An admin officer from the panel told Evans there is “no way around this”.
“The standard route only accepts medical evidence from doctors registered in the UK,” an email states.
Evans has done the math and discovered doctor fees and gender specialist fees to obtain the GRC would cost her thousands of dollars.
She can’t understand why it is such a hassle.
“I would have to spend at least $4000 to $5000 on private consults to achieve things I achieved years ago in Australia,” she said.
“I’ve been quoted anywhere from $900 to $1100 for a one-hour appointment.
“And if you go for the NHS over there, which won’t cost me, they’ve quoted me anywhere between an eight to 15 year wait.”
Evans said she briefly considered renouncing her citizenship but isn’t willing to give up her rights as a UK citizen, including her eligibility for the pension.
If she needed to visit Manchester on short notice, Evans knows she’d need to travel on a male passport.
“If I had to, I would do it, because my mum’s more important than my pride,” she added.
“But I shouldn’t have to.”
Evans wants to fight to resolve this bureaucratic snag so it doesn’t happen to other trans women or men who have emigrated to Australia.
“If you’re trans and you decide to say to the world, this is who I am, you can’t go in halfway,” Evans said.
“You can’t start if you are still living under your old gender name.”
Nine.com.au has contacted the UK gender recognition panel for comment.
