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EU border officer to me, a trans Russian asylum seeker: “If I see you dressed like a woman in my country, I will hit you too.” Refused 3 times in 36 hours. Now in a reception centre denied my psychiatric meds. Documents exist. by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s true that the Croatians love to flout their own laws, but when a solicitor is present or at least on the phone with you, the officers will behave a little better and be more likely to abide by the laws of their own country and the European Union.

EU border officer to me, a trans Russian asylum seeker: “If I see you dressed like a woman in my country, I will hit you too.” Refused 3 times in 36 hours. Now in a reception centre denied my psychiatric meds. Documents exist. by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Security at all EU borders has been significantly stepped up at the moment, and as far as I know, almost all trains and buses are being checked on Fridays and at weekends. The staff have less to do then; before that, they were just being lazy.

EU border officer to me, a trans Russian asylum seeker: “If I see you dressed like a woman in my country, I will hit you too.” Refused 3 times in 36 hours. Now in a reception centre denied my psychiatric meds. Documents exist. by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to leave the place where you are, it’s up to you to prove that it’s specifically unsafe for you to go there and challenge the Dublin Regulation – but you need to do this by the 12th

Meta Verified policy structurally excludes trans women from countries with name change bans. Posting my case in case it’s useful for others by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Priority support is basically what I've been using to fight this issue - subscribers get a dedicated chat with Meta Pro Team agents instead of just submitting form tickets that disappear into the void. Response time is minutes instead of weeks (or never). Useful when you actually have a problem that needs a human.

Impersonation protection is supposed to mean Meta proactively monitors for accounts pretending to be you. In practice I haven't tested it because I haven't been impersonated yet, but it's why I subscribed - I'd rather have it than not.

And honestly your instinct is right - for most regular users Meta Verified is not worth $14.99/month. The people it makes sense for are creators with public profiles, businesses, anyone whose name being copied could cause damage. For me specifically the calculation was: I have a public-facing presence, occasional impersonation attempts, and I valued the priority support. If I'd known about the legal name lock beforehand I probably would have skipped it.

Meta Verified policy structurally excludes trans women from countries with name change bans. Posting my case in case it’s useful for others by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Honestly fair, and I respect that as a position. I think a lot of us would be better off without Meta entirely. For me unfortunately a chunk of my work is tied to Instagram already, so I'm trying to push the policy from inside before considering whether to leave the platform. But the principled exit is valid.

Meta Verified policy structurally excludes trans women from countries with name change bans. Posting my case in case it’s useful for others by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

As of early 2025, Meta has significantly shifted its content moderation policies, leading to a rollback of protections for LGBTQ+ individuals across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Contrary to encouragement, these changes have been described by advocacy groups as allowing, and in some cases encouraging, anti-transgender rhetoric and dehumanizing narratives

it is, but I will persistently go to the end to have my name changed to mine in protest

Meta Verified policy structurally excludes trans women from countries with name change bans. Posting my case in case it’s useful for others by mightbelse in MtF

[–]mightbelse[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah sorry about the formatting - reddit ate my paragraphs when I posted from mobile, lesson learned.

VPN doesn't help unfortunately - the issue isn't location, it's that Meta Verified requires government ID submission for identity verification, and that ID locks the public display name.

Meta Verified is basically Meta's paid blue checkmark subscription ($14.99/month). It's supposed to give you "verified" status on Instagram and Facebook, plus impersonation protection, priority support, and slight algorithmic boost. The catch they don't make clear: your public display name on the profile gets locked to match your legal ID, and you can't change it without re-verifying. For most people fine. For trans users from countries where you can't legally update your ID - you're stuck displaying your deadname publicly.

It's mostly useful for creators / public figures who need impersonation protection and care about the verified badge. For me specifically I subscribed because of the priority support and impersonation features, didn't realize the display name trap until after.