Okla. court: Name change allowed after sex change
SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press
Published 11:29 a.m., Tuesday, November 20, 2012
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Okla-court-Name-change-allowed-after-sex-change-4054019.php OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A woman who became female through gender-reassignment surgery has the right to change her name too, despite a trial court judge's ruling that suggested her new name was misleading, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled on Tuesday.
A three-judge panel ruled that Steven Charles Harvey did not attempt to deceive anyone by seeking legal recognition of her new name, Christie Ann Harvey. Oklahoma County District Judge Bill Graves, a former Republican lawmaker, earlier ruled against Harvey, ruling that gender-reassignment surgery didn't change Harvey's DNA.
"Petitioner has stipulated that his DNA cannot be changed to that of a female," Graves wrote in his ruling. "Thus, if a sex change cannot validly change one's sex from male to female or vice versa ... his purpose would be fraudulent."
But the panel ruled the lower court "abused its discretion" by denying the name-change application and ordered Graves to grant Harvey's change of name.
