Transgender Name Changes

Luckily, New York is not a state with an anti-conversion bill which forbids changes to gender markers on birth certificates. Yes, this happens. This realistic and progressive stance allowed by the legislature and courts allow both minors and adults alike to help make their transition less stressful. Although, I do not pretend to be an expert in this subject, nor can I fathom the emotion that goes with it, any prospective name changer should note that they should not fear the NY court system in this regard. New York is rather progressive in their name change stance regarding reviewing these petitions, and as long as nine years ago the New York Times reported that “In many courts around the country, what were once risky or shocking name-change requests are becoming more routine as the sting of gender taboo has lost a little of its edge.”

If any would be name changer cannot afford an attorney like myself to help them with this process, there are institutions out there that take pro-bono case like this one: The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Prospective would be clients need to meet certain income specification and may quality for free legal help.

Although every case may have it’s own unique nature and may face their own legal hurdles from a substantive point of view, i.e. a minor name changer where one parent won’t sign off, would be name changers need not fear the system in general.