Theme
1:38pm June 3, 2014
This is a very excited picture of me with my name change paperwork in hand.  This means it is completely official:  My official name for paperwork and everything is Amelia Evelyn Voicy Baggs. Which means, for all normal purposes, my name is Mel Baggs and that’s what I want you to call me.  There’s some stuff redacted on the paperwork – birthdate, birthplace, and the previous name I’d changed my name to.  But basically the paperwork is a bunch of legal jargon saying that Amanda Melissa Baggs a.k.a. [etc.] is now known as Amelia Evelyn Voicy Baggs. So now I’m officially Mel. And I’m too happy to want to argue the merits of keeping a female-sounding name given the other oppression I have to deal with, so please don’t go there.  Amelia was a compromise so that I could be Mel when it really matters (with everyone, everywhere, pretty much) but they could look back on paper and see Amelia and it might save my life in some contexts, so I didn’t argue even though I didn’t like it. The outside of the form addressed me as Mr., and the inside addressed me as Ms., which was kind of odd. Anyway, I’m super happy about the name change being official.  Now I just have to do all the hard work of getting a new Social Security card, DMV ID, medical stuff, insurance stuff, and so on. I’m also really excited about the middle names.  I now share a middle name with my most intimate friend in the world.  And my other middle name goes back a long way in my family, including my favorite great-aunt.  I’ve never heard of a Voicy I wasn’t related to, although I know they must exist. Both the middle name of Voicy and changing my last name back to Baggs.. those things are because I feel more and more connected to my roots again, and I want to honor that connection.  I know there’s no perfect name, but it would be hard for me to be happier than I am with this one.  I feel like the first name change I made was a mistake, and this is a chance to correct that mistake. I also feel like sharing a name with Voicy is a responsibility.  Like I have a lot to live up to, she is very strong and so was every other Voicy I’ve heard about.  But the roots she ties me to mean a lot to me too, and it’s worth it. But for most people: Mel Baggs, that’s all you need to know.  And I’m really, really happy with this.

This is a very excited picture of me with my name change paperwork in hand.  This means it is completely official:  My official name for paperwork and everything is Amelia Evelyn Voicy Baggs.

Which means, for all normal purposes, my name is Mel Baggs and that’s what I want you to call me.  There’s some stuff redacted on the paperwork – birthdate, birthplace, and the previous name I’d changed my name to.  But basically the paperwork is a bunch of legal jargon saying that Amanda Melissa Baggs a.k.a. [etc.] is now known as Amelia Evelyn Voicy Baggs.

So now I’m officially Mel.

And I’m too happy to want to argue the merits of keeping a female-sounding name given the other oppression I have to deal with, so please don’t go there.  Amelia was a compromise so that I could be Mel when it really matters (with everyone, everywhere, pretty much) but they could look back on paper and see Amelia and it might save my life in some contexts, so I didn’t argue even though I didn’t like it.

The outside of the form addressed me as Mr., and the inside addressed me as Ms., which was kind of odd.

Anyway, I’m super happy about the name change being official.  Now I just have to do all the hard work of getting a new Social Security card, DMV ID, medical stuff, insurance stuff, and so on.

I’m also really excited about the middle names.  I now share a middle name with my most intimate friend in the world.  And my other middle name goes back a long way in my family, including my favorite great-aunt.  I’ve never heard of a Voicy I wasn’t related to, although I know they must exist.

Both the middle name of Voicy and changing my last name back to Baggs.. those things are because I feel more and more connected to my roots again, and I want to honor that connection.  I know there’s no perfect name, but it would be hard for me to be happier than I am with this one.  I feel like the first name change I made was a mistake, and this is a chance to correct that mistake.

I also feel like sharing a name with Voicy is a responsibility.  Like I have a lot to live up to, she is very strong and so was every other Voicy I’ve heard about.  But the roots she ties me to mean a lot to me too, and it’s worth it.

But for most people: Mel Baggs, that’s all you need to know.  And I’m really, really happy with this.

Notes:
  1. slepaulica said: congratulations!
  2. arctic-hands reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    Hello, Mel!
  3. fullyarticulatedgoldskeleton said: Congratulations!
  4. withasmoothroundstone posted this