NCTE has been working on the bureauacratical mess within Social Security viz a viz gender markers. If you’ve noticed, there is no gender marker on your Social Security card, but somehow gender started getting added to people’s files anyway, & the category started to be used as a “no match” category – meaning that if the gender marker on someone’s SSN file didn’t match their current gender marker, they were sent a letter saying the two didn’t match and that additional documentation was needed. The SSN did this with other categories, too, such as date of birth, etc.
That all said, NCTE filed an FOI (Freedom of Information) claim:
The extent of the problem was made crystal clear when NCTE’s Freedom of Information Act request was answered showing 711,488 gender no-match letters were sent in 2010 alone. Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality says, “Ending this practice, which has endangered transgender people and our jobs, has been a priority for NCTE and we are pleased that the SSA has updated its policy.”
There’s a good article in The Miami Herald with more info, and the Social Security W-2 News Page has the official announcement.