Law School Hosts Transgender Name-Changing Clinic

redstate.com

If you’re in Toledo and need to change your name, a law school can help with that. Or, at least, it could last month.

The University of Toledo’s College of Law boasts a student organization with a clever name. At UToledo.edu, OUTLaw is described thusly:

[OUTLaw supports] LGBTQ+ law students and allies, while also promoting the presence of the LGBTQ+ community and raising awareness of social issues.

On January 21st, the organization hosted a name-change clinic for all residents of Lucas County. The idea, apparently, was to help those who wish to identify as the opposite of their sex and bear a reflective moniker.

WTOL profiled a fan of the event:

Local fashion designer Jerra Kaitlynn Whittaker went through the process of changing her name years ago and said events like this show progress is happening for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to feel more like themselves.

“To all the law students that took their Saturday, that volunteered to do this, your Saturdays are commodities. I have a lot of friends in law school, and that is heartwarming to know that there are people that care,” said [Jerra].

[She] wishes groups like OUTLaw were around when she went through her name change process back in 2014, a process that can be complicated and challenging for lay people.

…

“I lived in Omaha, Nebraska, and there [weren’t] a whole lot of resources for trans people back then. So, I started…delving into this on my own,” said [Jerra].

Over the past few years, the idea of identity has certainly changed. Until recently, first names were generally considered permanent; outside of grammar, there was no such thing in the American lexicon as “gender;” and sex was simply observed at birth.

These days, we’re told male or female is “assigned” by guessing physicians, “deadnaming” is a scourge, and there are all-new categories of designation: one’s gender and preferred pronouns…

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE…– RedState