I have been using the HelloTalk exchange app for nearly 4 years, and have made many close friends on here. However, since then I have realized I am a transgender girl. Despite this and constantly trying to negotiate with the HelloTalk team, they refuse to change the gender on my profile to female unless I can provide legal documents showing that I am female. This is very restrictive because in some countries, you cannot change your legal sex, and in some sex reassignment surgery is required, which not all trans people want. Furthermore, many people cannot or do not want to change their legal sex due to a multitude of reasons, and many people socially transition before they legally transition. This policy is transphobic and forces trans people to have their profile display incorrect information about their gender. HelloTalk puts these restrictions in place to prevent catfishing and other malicious acts of lying, however legal documents is far too extreme of a restriction. The only verification of gender that should be required is a person's word.