Audience members hold a transgender pride flag while listening to a speech from Kat Hammons, an intern for MI House Rep. Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing). | Kyle Davidson
It is not a criminal act to try and get a name change in Michigan, but if you are a transgender or gender-nonconforming individual, it’s treated as such, Mel Hartman, 38, said last week during an advocacy event at the Michigan Capitol for legislation to remove hurdles on name changes.
On Friday, Michigan House Democrats passed legislation through the chamber to remove certain requirements for individuals seeking name changes on government documents for reasons outside of marriage. Among the changes, Michigan residents petitioning a court for a name change for non-marriage-related reasons would no longer have to be fingerprinted and mandated to publish name change court dates and fraud would no longer be assumed as the reason for the name change.
Hartman, who recently went through the process as a trans person to have their name reflected on their driver’s license and government documents, called the process “grueling” and not one a transgender person would go through if it wasn’t so important.
“I think a lot of conservatives and Republicans, they don’t recognize the difficulties that trans people go through every day just moving through the world as ourselves,” Hartman said. “There’s an idea that we’re doing it on a whim or for fun, when the process is so difficult…it isn’t humane for trans people to have to it’s assumed that we change our names because of criminal reason, deviant reason, when we’re simply trying to just live our lives, just live our lives in a normal way.”
With Republican President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January and bathroom bans being implemented against trans individuals using the bathroom that corresponds with their identity being passed in some states and the U.S. Capitol, it’s important that Democrats act on bills protecting trans residents, Hartman said.
With having to pay for fingerprinting and legal fees, a name change can cost Michiganders thousands of dollars and the process is complicated and dehumanizing, making success difficult transgender advocate Lilianna-Angel Reyes told lawmakers in the Michigan House Judiciary Committee in February. Reyes and other members of the LGBTQ+ advocacy sphere testified on HB 5300 which would remove the name change barriers.
It comes down to basic humanity, bill sponsor Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) told Michigan Advance as she introduced the bill last year, “and not treating certain segments of our population different than everyone else.”
“It’s remarkably easy to change your name if you get married and I don’t understand why we don’t have the same concerns about someone changing their name at the point of marriage as we do someone who is just transitioning in their life.”
The bills passed the Michigan House 56-0, with no Republicans voting as they walked out of the chamber around noon Friday in protest of House Democrats not taking up bills on the state’s minimum wage laws, earned sick leave and road funding.
Other bills that cleared the House and will need state Senate approval before the legislative session ends this month include bills to codify existing allowances for changing sex and gender markers on official documents.
HB 5303, supports Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s legal opinion removing the legal requirement requiring verification of “sex-reassignment surgery,” in order to change the sex designation on a birth certificate. The bill further would allow the “X” sex marker on birth certificates.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has allowed residents to choose an “X” gender marker for their driver’s license and state IDs since 2021 and in 2019, Benson eliminated the legal requirement for changing the sex marker to provide a birth certificate. Those administrative orders would become state law if House Bills 5301 and 5302 were to win final passage, as was noted by Erin Knott, executive director of Equality Michigan.
“These bills aim to codify Benson’s policies and mark a significant step forward towards making Michigan more equitable for transgender and non-binary individuals across our state, ensuring greater dignity, safety, and recognition in their daily lives,” said Knott. “We now call upon the Michigan Senate to swiftly pass this legislation package.”
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