The picture above shows me so stunned after applying for a U.S. Passport that I could hardly drive. I actually sat in the car for half an hour BECAUSE I knew I could not drive.
I was so full of hope, so excited to be going to Haiti to help the people who have suffered so much.
I was surprised and elated when a local Baptist ministry offered to let me accompany them to Haiti to do good works during Spring Break. Now I am stunned and so shocked I hardly know what to do.
I entered the passport office with all my documents...I thought. Then, the passport official told me the US Government would probably not accept my birth certificate because it is old and torn, although completely legible, just torn at the creases where it was folded. She, the passport official, also told me that my passport request might be denied because I did not have the page in my divorce decree that said my married name could revert to my maiden name.
I left with the knowledge that I probably would not be going to Haiti afterall. The passport official did agree to send my documents to Washington, D.C., but she refused to let me expedite them with a private company because, she said, my departure date was 20 days away, and she was allowed to return my documents to me only if my departure date were less than 14 days away.
With the exception of the worn birth certificate, the entire passport application process is a GENDER DESCRIMINATION ISSUE. Men don't usually change their names; women do it all the time, with every marriage.
If I am denied -- as the passport official said I probably would be -- I plan to spend my life fighting to make politicians see that the passport application process is a civil rights issue -- women have to provide much more proof than men.
IF MY PASSPORT IS DENIED, SOMEBODY GIVE ME THE NAME OF A LAWYER AND TELL ME WHO TO SUE!!!!!
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