MTV and Logo have teamed with the non-profit organization Trans Lifeline for a campaign to ensure that transgender youth update their government IDs properly ahead of Election Day.
As part of the campaign, Kim Petras narrates a short that follows three transgender and non-binary young people — Coral, Owen and Aidan — on their “ID journey,” and how each were helped along the way by the microgrant provided by MTV, Logo and Trans Lifeline.
“As soon as I have to show my ID, their eye will track to the picture and then they’ll look at me, and then the gender marker,” Owen says. “It’s a terrifying moment, because I have no idea how someone will react to that.”
Coral adds: “The Trans Lifeline microgrant empowered me to feel that legal name change is a real possibility. A person’s name is so crucial to how they interface with themselves and every person they ever meet. It impacts their entire experience of the world.”
“Whenever I’m given any opportunity to help draw attention to trans issues and uplift the trans community, I want to do what I can because it’s something I love doing,” Petras said in a statement. “Changing your name and gender officially can be hard and discouraging to do. I know how much it means when your gender and your name finally gets changed on your passport because I went through the same thing. It might not seem like a big thing to many people, but it’s a big thing if you’re transgender — especially in an election year where making our voices heard and making sure our community is represented is more important than ever.”