Privacy in Name and Sex Designation Changes

The vast majority of name changes – including those pursuant to marriage, divorce, adoption, and citizenship – are categorically private. Name and sex marker changes that proceed through the courts are a glaring – and dangerous – exception to this rule. What is more, those who must rely on the courts to change their names or sex markers are often the most in need of confidentiality to protect their safety: namely transgender New Yorkers and survivors of intimate partner violence.

A.3925 (Lavine)/S.2431 (Hoylman-Sigal) would remedy this inequity and keep people who use the courts to change their names and/or sex markers safe by requiring that, like other methods of changing one’s name, name and sex marker changes sought through the courts be categorically private. The NYCLU strongly supports this bill and urges its immediate passage.