Trans Resource Navigator

Arizona

ID documents
Mixed
Care
Mixed
Shield lawA state law that protects patients and providers of gender-affirming care from investigations, subpoenas, or extradition attempts by states that ban that care.
No

Arizona sits in the middle. Adults can change their name through a standard Superior Court petition with no newspaper publication, though a short hearing is required.

More about Arizona

The driver's license sex marker (M or F only) can be changed with a letter from a licensed physician. The birth certificate is harder: the state requires a physician's statement of a "sex change operation" or a court order. Hormone therapy is legal for adults and minors, but surgery is banned under 18 (A.R.S. § 32-3230) and AHCCCS (Medicaid) excludes gender-affirming surgery.

This state’s pages are drafts written from official sources and not yet checked by a person. What this means

Your documents, in order

Most people go in this order, because each office checks the one before it. On every document, updating your name and changing your gender marker are separate questions with separate answers.

  1. Legal name changeState court
    Name
    YesNo newspaper notice, court hearing required
  2. Social SecurityFederal, same in every state
    Name
    YesAfter your legal name change
    Gender marker
    NoCannot be changed right now
  3. Driver's license / state IDArizona DMV
    Name
    YesAfter your legal name change
    Gender marker
    LimitedM or F with a letter from a doctor
  4. US passportFederal, same in every state
    Name
    YesAfter your legal name change
    Gender marker
    NoCannot be changed right now
  5. Birth certificateOnly if born in Arizona
    Name
    YesAfter your legal name change
    Gender marker
    LimitedM or F with proof of surgery

Born somewhere other than Arizona? Your birth certificate follows the state where you were born. Choose your birth state

Gender-affirming care

Adults
Limited
Under 18
Limited
Hormone therapy is legal in Arizona for adults and, with parental consent, for minors.Find clinics, health centers, telehealth, and ways to pay

Local help

Statewide organizations

  • Trans Spectrum of Arizona[5][6]

    Phoenix-based trans peer support organization. Runs free adult peer support meetings (in person in Phoenix and virtually) and the Affirming Identification Assistance grant, which pays the fee for updated IDs, certified court orders, and amended birth certificates for trans Arizonans 18 and older who already have their court order.

    • Free

  • one•n•ten[7][8]

    LGBTQ youth and young adult center in downtown Phoenix with trans and gender-expansive support groups, housing, and health and wellness programs.

    • Free
    602-400-26011101 N Central Ave, Suite 104, Phoenix, AZ 85004

  • Trans Lifeline[9]

    Peer-support hotline run by and for trans people, 877-565-8860.

    • Free
    877-565-8860
Sources for this page (9)

Sources

9 sources. Numbers in the text, like [1], point here.

  1. A.R.S. § 36-337, Amending birth certificatesArizona State Legislature, Law. accessed
    “For a person who has undergone a sex change operation or has a chromosomal count that establishes the sex of the person as different than in the registered birth certificate”
  2. A.R.S. § 32-3230, Prohibition of irreversible gender reassignment surgery for minorsArizona State Legislature, Law. accessed
    “A physician may not provide irreversible gender reassignment surgery to any individual who is under eighteen years of age.”
  3. Ariz. Admin. Code R9-22-205, Attending physician, practitioner, and primary care provider servicesLegal Information Institute (text of the Arizona Administrative Code), Regulation. accessed
    “The following services are excluded from AHCCCS coverage: Infertility services, reversal of surgically induced infertility (sterilization), and gender reassignment surgeries”
  4. Executive Order 2023-12, Ensuring Access to Medically Necessary Gender-Affirming Healthcare (June 27, 2023)Office of the Arizona Governor, Official page. accessed
  5. Affirming Identification AssistanceTrans Spectrum of Arizona, Organization. accessed
    “The Affirming Identification Assistance Program (AIDA) will pay the fee for new updated documentation for transgender and gender expansive residents of Arizona upon receiving their name and or gender change court order.”
  6. Peer Support MeetingsTrans Spectrum of Arizona, Organization. accessed
  7. Downtown Phoenix LGBTQ Youth Centerone•n•ten, Organization. accessed
  8. Health and wellness programsone•n•ten, Organization. accessed
    “Our Trans & Gender Expansive support programs provide a safe space to discuss gender-affirming health topics”
  9. Trans LifelineOrganization. accessed