In a significant stride for transgender rights, a Pennsylvania court recently ruled in favor of Jordan Xzavier Hilliard, allowing him a legal name change. Hilliard, a transgender man, confronted the state’s laws that restricted felons from altering their names. This decision marks another triumph in the ongoing battle against legislation deemed by critics as unconstitutional.
Previously convicted on a drug-related felony, Hilliard had sought to change his name in 2013, only to face refusal. Seizing an opportunity during his parole in February 2022, Hilliard reapplied for a name change. However, his efforts were thwarted by the state law’s provisions.
The law stipulates that certain individuals with felony records are prohibited from changing their names, while others are required to wait two years post-parole. The regulation was initially conceived to prevent ex-convicts from assuming new identities to evade legal authorities.
Guided by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) and the Reed Smith law firm, Hilliard contested the denial in the Pennsylvania Superior Court, ultimately sending the case back to a lower trial court for deeper examination in April 2023.
During a pivotal hearing on August 1, Hilliard’s legal representatives argued that the law’s premises were unjust and inconsistent with the state constitution. They contended that it violated Hilliard’s due-process rights by unfairly assuming that transgender felons pursued name changes for fraudulent motives. Additionally, they asserted that this legislation infringed upon Hilliard’s free speech rights, compelling him to retain a name discordant with his identity.
An expert witness, Ayden I. Scheim, emphasized that legal name changes hold vital significance in the journey towards gender affirmation. They asserted that such changes could substantially alleviate mental health challenges and potentially enhance the overall social, health, and economic well-being of transgender individuals by mitigating discrimination and violence tied to incongruent identity documents.
Butler County Common Pleas Judge S. Michael Yeager eventually granted Hilliard’s name change application, a decision lauded by TLDEF Litigation Director Z. Gabriel Arkles as a testament to the injustice of the felony-based naming restrictions.
This verdict follows similar wins in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, underscoring the mounting resistance to the felony-based naming barrier, a stance increasingly seen as at odds with Pennsylvania’s constitutional principles. In December 2021, both the Philadelphia and Allegheny County Courts of Common Pleas sanctioned comparable name changes for other transgender applicants, with the latter court deeming the prevailing law unconstitutional.
