Legal Name Change Possibly Rejected?

[Stella Sophia]

Hello Lovelies,

I am in the process of legally changing my name as I embark on my new journey transitioning from MtF. I am assigned a judge who has a reputation for strong Christian and Conservative views. I am in the very non-trans friendly state of Idaho. I am not looking for approaches as to how to request the name change, but more so if it is denied due to one man's bias, how can I repeal it? Am I stuck with my disgusting boy name forever?

Thanks in advance!

[findingreason]

I'm not sure how your state does name changes exactly, does it go through Probate? And if so, does it go by districts depending on your area of residence?

I have my hearing soon too, and while I am not anticipating anything to go wrong, I have a letter from my therapist to present to the judge in the unlikely event it is necessary. Coming as prepared as possible will hopefully help your case in front of the judge, who which should *not* be denying your name change for just personal bias reasons.

Worst case, if it is divided by districts and judges in each one, could you move in the future and reapply?

[Stella Sophia]

Yeah I have all the documents and am prepared, but I am probably just being overly cautious. I guess I feel like I am worried that I am going to be the one some biased person makes an example out of. 

[LordKAT]

I felt the same way. I think it is likely a common fear. Denying the name change should require an explanation of why not.  Either way, your not stuck with boyname forever. There are other routes.

[Stella Sophia]

Yeah I doubt I would get rejected just because no judge wants to start that storm, I would take it to the press and make a big deal about it. Idaho sucks because you cant change your gender marker at all among other things. I wonder if I should just be bold and ask the judge to grant me the ability to change it? Who knows?

[Ms Grace]

I find this fronting a judge for a name change thing so very odd. In Australia, in most cases, we just fill out a form and send it off to the registry with our $$$. Or at the worst it's an interview with some mid level public servant. Sure takes the stress out of the process.

I hope you have luck - unless you've been doing crimes he should have no grounds for denying you a name change.

[Stella Sophia]

I find this fronting a judge for a name change thing so very odd. In Australia, in most cases, we just fill out a form and send it off to the registry with our $$$. Or at the worst it's an interview with some mid level public servant. Sure takes the stress out of the process.

I hope you have luck - unless you've been doing crimes he should have no grounds for denying you a name change.

Yeah that's American for you though, have to ask one man and all of his preconceived notions and prejudices if I am allowed to live my life. I'm not a US basher, there are a lot of good things, but very few of them are for trans people.

[Missy D]

This does sound strange to someone living in the UK too! Especially with America being the land of the free and whatever lol! State intervention into what someone is allowed to call themselves seems unduly oppressive.

In Britain the legal principle is that you're allowed to call yourself whatever you like as long as it's within bounds of decency and doesn't cause copyright issues. We have something called a change of name deed, but even that isn't necessary. It is possible just to sign something off. And we don't have gender markers on driving licences. Which makes sense - why does it matter what sex you are when you've passed a driving test.

And titles are easy too. Because we're still rabidly classist; it's an offence to pretend to have higher social status - like Lady or Viscount or something. You can't call yourself Doctor either. But... Plain old Miss, Ms and Mr are open to all. All I have to do is write to the relevant people and ask to be addressed in that manner.

[Serenation]

I find this fronting a judge for a name change thing so very odd. In Australia, in most cases, we just fill out a form and send it off to the registry with our $$$. Or at the worst it's an interview with some mid level public servant. Sure takes the stress out of the process.

I hope you have luck - unless you've been doing crimes he should have no grounds for denying you a name change.

I was thinking the same thing, I just sent in a form to change name, I recently rang them in regards to birth certificate change, and that's just a form also (signed by surgeon and gp) and they even remove your birth name.

I'm sure things will be ok Stella, be brave!

[lost._.at._.sea]

The judge I went to was a joke. I live in south Texas. It's pretty conservative here. I don't know if that helps at all. The judges just want to make sure we aren't evading taxes or arrests and stuff like that. Good luck! [emoji106]

[tgchar21]

Understand that the role of the judge in the name change process is to make sure you're not seeking a new name for fraudulent reasons like hiding debts or a criminal past. If you don't have any factors like those against you then if the judge tries to deny your name change you'd have a virtual lock of getting the decision reversed upon appeal. Even if you have a checkered past you have a very valid reason for getting a new name in your case.

If you're worried about a judge's religious views, and you're not including an order to change a gender marker in the same case, don't even mention your TG/TS status in the reason. Use one like "my chosen name better fits my personality" or "I have been using <new name> informally for awhile and wish to make it my legal name" (if true). As long as you don't have the strikes in the above paragraph against you those are perfectly valid reasons for a name change. Any judge who denies a name change on the basis that the name is typically used for the opposite sex is setting the grounds for a precedent that would be felt well beyond the trans* community (as in dictating what names parents could and could not give their children of a particular gender).

[Joi]

I will be appearing B4 a judge this Thursday for the legal name change.  I also want to effect a gender change, but as I am representing myself and couldn't find a form to address the gender issue, I  don't know if I can accomplish both at the same time.  I've heard from other Trans friends that it can be done at the same time.  I called the court clerk to ask for advice and got nowhere.  She said: "Take it up with the judge"  Guess I'll find out on Thurs.  Wanted to avoid having to go back again for the gender change and paying additional fees.

[iKate]

Yeah that's American for you though, have to ask one man and all of his preconceived notions and prejudices if I am allowed to live my life. I'm not a US basher, there are a lot of good things, but very few of them are for trans people.

To that I say, "meh." There are good reasons to reject a name change such as people doing it to avoid debts and the law. I have a relative who avoided penalties from US immigration authorities by changing her name. She did it as a deed poll in a foreign country. I didn't like it as she was essentially deported from the US because of a criminal charge (using counterfeit currency) and was able to avoid that and come back.

So the judicial process kind of adds that extra step. In my state if you have any criminal charges to your name you have to notify the prosecutor in your county and he/she has to certify to the court that you are not changing your name to escape them.

[iKate]

This does sound strange to someone living in the UK too! Especially with America being the land of the free and whatever lol! State intervention into what someone is allowed to call themselves seems unduly oppressive.

Oh, that's an easy one. It's because in the USA you are not a name, you're a number. The social security number is used for everything under the sun. The record has to match for employment, payment of taxes and other things.

[FTMDiaries]

And we don't have gender markers on driving licences. Which makes sense - why does it matter what sex you are when you've passed a driving test.

Just thought I'd quickly mention that whilst we don't have an overt 'M/F' gender marker on our Driving Licences, there is a gender marker and the cops can spot it. It's the 7th digit of your Licence Number, which represents the first digit of your month of birth (e.g. '07' for July). They leave it untouched if you're male so it's either 0 or 1 (depending on your month of birth), but if you're female they add a 5 to it. So on a male licence, July is '07' and December is '12'; on a female licence, July is '57' and December is '62'.

Why they need this info is beyond me, but there you are. The cops know this, but luckily the general public doesn't. Here's a link explaining how it works.

[iKate]

I kind of like having a gender marker on my Driver License. The reason is that it can help with bathroom challenges. Besides, having that "F" there makes me so happy.

I realize it may not include non-binary people but maybe they need to add more than just M or F, or allow people to opt out.

And yes our driver license number has gender encoded.  The 5th from last digit is 0 for males and 5 for females. So when I changed my gender marker but not my name, that 0 changed to a 5 and that was it.

[Sydney_NYC]

I kind of like having a gender marker on my Driver License. The reason is that it can help with bathroom challenges. Besides, having that "F" there makes me so happy. ...

I agree, it's so validating to having it on there for all to see

[Stella Sophia]

I will be appearing B4 a judge this Thursday for the legal name change.  I also want to effect a gender change, but as I am representing myself and couldn't find a form to address the gender issue, I  don't know if I can accomplish both at the same time.  I've heard from other Trans friends that it can be done at the same time.  I called the court clerk to ask for advice and got nowhere.  She said: "Take it up with the judge"  Guess I'll find out on Thurs.  Wanted to avoid having to go back again for the gender change and paying additional fees.

Yeah let me know how that goes asking for gender change too, as I have run into the whole runaround ordeal. I am totally figuring to just ask away for it, what do I have to lose? Good luck!

[Tysilio]

    I kind of like having a gender marker on my Driver License. The reason is that it can help with bathroom challenges. Besides, having that "F" there makes me so happy. ...

I agree, it's so validating to having it on there for all to see

Yeah... I'm still waiting for my DL to come in the mail, but, ahh, that new passport with the "M" on it does make me happy.   

If the gummint says I'm a guy, it must be true. That part of it is a bit sad, really.

[JenniferLopezgomez]

No need to guess about Idaho, here's the info you need for documents change (name, gender marker) in Idaho. This is a great website.

http://www.transequality.org/documents/state/idaho

I did mine in England. England is probably the easiest country in the world to do a name change, but gender change is harder, at least for British citizens. Ask me if you have any more questions about this. xx