Law-Forums.org

[abelard29]

When I fill out forms online, the often ask for a "title." I do not want to reveal if I am male or female. It seems to me that using "Dr." is the only completely non-sex-determined, standard title. (I'm not going for Hon. or Rev., here.)

Are there any laws about this? I'm not representing myself as some kind of expert in anything, just writing to my congressional representative, or whatnot.

Please don't offer just opinions, I have read a bunch on this. What I cannot seem to find online, is if there are any laws about putting "Dr." before your name.

[darik2]

There is no law regarding this. As the Supreme Court recently ruled (the "Stolen Valor" case), one cannot legislate against lying. (With the caveat that it's not fraud).

So, if you write to your Rep and use "Dr." when you are not, but write it in such a way that you appear to have a medical specialty, that could be considered a problem. But not really illegal.

If you went into a pharmacy and got some narcotics claiming that you were a doctor, that would be illegal.

Given that "Dr." can refer not only to people with medical degrees, but also dentists, PhDs (in many fields), honorary PhDs (e.g., Bill Cosby sometimes uses Dr. as his title, since he was bestowed with an honorary doctorate in education), etc. then it's really pretty open.

[raleah]

I don't know if you're checking comments, but hopefully this'll clear this up.

No, there is no legal requirement to the title "Dr." It's a word. What is illegal is saying that you are a medical doctor in order to do something/get something that you would not otherwise get.

[roche]

Note that your statement that people make assumptions about sex is EXACTLY when, from a "moral" perspective, using "Dr." is not right. While legal, your attempt to keep someone from having a preconception based on sex is creating a preconception that you are some sort of "doctor."

[stephon14]

Why, in a democracy, would you want to obfuscate your identity when communicating with your elected representatives?

If you're sending effectively anonymous letters to people you don't know, you might as well use "The Right Loony" as your title because that's about how seriously people are going to take what you have to say.

[lathrop]

That would be considered Fraud since you are altering your personal information to conceal something. Don't use a Title, I never do.