Hey everyone ---
I apologize for the late update. Many of you don't know me personally, but one fact is I'm a public school teacher. As you can imagine, I've been pretty busy lately. A few coworkers asked me about an update, so I can imagine you're wondering as well.
On August 25, 2022, Bryan DPS (Department of Public Safety) called me and I talked with a person there named Sonya. I took notes after our conversation that day. Here's what I wrote:
"I contacted the Department of Motors Vehicles again and stated in the email that it had been a month with no response. They forwarded my email a second time. Sonya (at the local Bryan Department of Public Safety told me that the first time I sent an email they (the Department of Motor Vehicles) didn't suggest to her that I needed to be contacted about this issue. (thought that was odd) After they saw me reaching out again that led her to believe she needed to contact me.
I spoke to Sonya Jensen (at Bryan Department of Public Safety) she apologized for the experience I had and said to me that the form I used, is used at all Texas government offices. That I have to go through Texas legislation to change what they have to something else. That their employee (at Bryan) didn’t handle it the way she should’ve, and should have allowed me to choose from the one I identify with the closest. Not choose for me. (Ok...)
The only thing I don’t like about our conversation is that she said she told her employee that she understood “both of our sides” and I’m wondering what side that is. In no way should she choose for me, and if I was her I wouldn't have told me "I understand both sides." That just sounds wrong. Anyway, I asked about what I needed to do next, and she suggested starting with Texas legislation.
What I know:
- Bryan DMV says they can’t legally do anything about it. They apologized.
- 98 supporters on Change.org (Shout out to the 98th signer, 3 days ago!)
- According to Sonya at Bryan DMV, I'm not the first to ask for this change!
- My next step is to contact legislation in Texas.
- One thing Sonya said that stuck with me was, "Well if this DOES change, I'll know who to thank."
I know, this seems impossible, it's quite overwhelming to do this alone. I still believe it's a change worth pursuing. It may be a slow change, I know that. I'll take every step I can to show that "Mixed" identifies with many, just as much as any other box.
Thank you all. All 98 of you for supporting me from the start. If there's anything else you want to do to help, please re-share.
Enjoy your weekend!
Christy Love