Trans Resource Navigator

Tennessee

ID documents
Restrictive
Care
Restrictive
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

Tennessee is one of the most restrictive states for trans people.

More about Tennessee

You can still change your name through a court petition with no newspaper publication, but the state does not allow changing the sex on a Tennessee birth certificate or driver's license, and a 2023 law defines "sex" everywhere in state law as sex at birth. Hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care are banned for people under 18 (a ban the US Supreme Court upheld in 2025), and since July 1, 2026 TennCare may not pay for this care at any age. Adults can still get hormones from private clinics, Planned Parenthood, and telehealth.

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, hearing sometimes
  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 IDTennessee DMV
    Name
    YesAfter your legal name change
    Gender marker
    NoCannot be changed right now
  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 Tennessee
    Name
    YesAfter your legal name change
    Gender marker
    NoCannot be changed right now

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

Gender-affirming care

Adults
Limited
Under 18
Banned
Adults in Tennessee can still legally get hormone therapy, including by informed consent at Planned Parenthood and through telehealth.Find clinics, health centers, telehealth, and ways to pay

Local help

Statewide organizations

Sources for this page (9)

Sources

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

  1. Tenn. Code Ann. § 1-3-105(c), definition of "sex"FindLaw (Tennessee Code), Law. accessed
    “'sex' means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex.”
  2. Gore v. Lee, No. 23-5669 (6th Cir. July 12, 2024)US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Court. accessed
    “As a result of this statute, Tennessee ended its practice of allowing transgender individuals to update their driver's licenses and voter identification cards to reflect their gender identity.”
  3. SB 1 (2023), Public Chapter 1Tennessee General Assembly, Law. accessed
  4. SB 2118 / HB 2498 (2026), Public Chapter 765, TennCare coverageTennessee General Assembly, Law. accessed
  5. Tennessee equality profileMovement Advancement Project, Organization. accessed
  6. Tennessee Equality ProjectOrganization. accessed
  7. Contact, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the CumberlandsOrganization. accessed
    “1321 Murfreesboro Pike, Suite 400, Nashville, TN 37217. Phone 1-800-238-1443”
  8. Free Name Change Clinic in Cookeville, Tennessee (July 9, 2026)Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Organization. accessed
  9. Trans LifelineOrganization. accessed