A Central Texas woman says an executive order signed by President Donald Trump is creating fear and frustration for transgender and nonbinary people.
AUSTIN, Texas — Growing up with a conservative background in the Texas Hill Country, Evee Addams always knew she was supposed to be someone different. Addams was born biologically as a man but says she was meant to become a woman.
“I never imagined my life as a male. It just didn’t feel right. I never saw myself with a woman ever,” Addams said.
Her transition has taken 10 years.
“This has always been who I am, and it’s been so freeing to have a judge sign off on that and be like, ‘You’re able to do this.’ And to have that taken away is traumatizing,” Addams said.
Addams said most of her documents are marked female except for her birth certificate. But last September, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed it would no longer allow transgender people to use court orders to get their sex changed on their birth certificates, leaving Addams in limbo for a passport.
“They want to see your birth certificate and your license. And they want to see that those match in order to, you know, give you a passport, and so they won’t. So right now, I’m literally stuck,” Addams said. “Even if I wanted to run for some reason, just because … and I just need a break or to leave, I am not given that opportunity.”
With President Donald Trump now in office and signing executive orders that limit transgender rights on the federal level, Addams said it is gut-wrenching. But she does not plan to back down.
“I’m tired. My people are tired,” Addams said. “So I don’t think it’s hopeless. I think there is where hope begins.”
A federal lawsuit has now been filed that challenges President Trump’s executive order declaring that the government only recognizes a person’s sex assigned at birth. It accuses the State Department of rejecting some applications from transgender people.