Kent State clinic addresses name changes, gender markers

Changing your name is a relatively simple process, experts told a crowd at Kent State University.

However, Portage is one of 11 counties in Ohio where residents can't change the gender marker on their birth certificate, they said.

Chris Sestak, an attorney with Student Legal Services at Kent State University, and Heather Gyekenyesi, a magistrate and administrator at the Portage County Probate Court, addressed legal name changes on Tuesday at a Name Change Clinic held at Kent State.

Kent State University's LGBTQ+ Center hosted the clinic, which was moved to a larger room within the Student Center because of the expected crowd. Ken Ditlevson, director of the center, said a social media post about the event had been shared more than 250 times, and the originally announced room holds only a little more than two dozen people. At least 50 people were in attendance.

The center also is promoting a virtual Ohio Name Change Legal Clinic to those who missed the KSU event, or those who are not current KSU students. TransOhio and Equitas Help, with support from local community groups, will host confidential virtual discussions with trained volunteer attorneys.

Sestak said his fees are paid through a $10 fee assessed to every student each semester. Other than that, the biggest fee involved in a name change is the $150 filing fee to the Portage County Probate Court.

Ditlevson said the center has an emergency fund that could be used to help cash-strapped students who find the filing fee to be a barrier.

The name change process

Sestak named 10 reasons people might change their names − such as divorce, opting to use a mother's or father's name, or simply not liking your birth name. However, Sestak said, name change requests to align with a new gender make up the bulk of the requests to his office. He added that the number of such requests has increased since 2017.

Student Legal Services can process name changes only in Portage County. Students who have dual residency in their home county can choose to file there, but would need to find another lawyer. Those filing a name change must file an affidavit pledging they have been a resident of the county where they file for at least 60 days, and that they are not evading creditors or have been convicted of fraud or sexually oriented offenses.

A copy of a birth certificate and driver's license or state ID is required to file the form.

Once the name change is approved, Sestak said, it is up to the applicant to notify the BMV, Social Security, banks, credit card companies, Boards of Elections and to update their passport. Those who are students should also notify KSU if they want their new name on their diploma when they graduate.

Markers a 'big issue' in Ohio

Gyekenyesi said changing gender markers on birth certificates is a "big issue in Ohio."

The Supreme Court of Ohio is considering whether transgender Ohioans have the legal ability to change the sex markers on their birth certificates, the Columbus Dispatch reported. A Clark County woman has argued that a federal court ruling from 2020 required the Ohio Department of Health to accept her petition, but her local Probate Court, which is where people go to make these changes, said it lacked legal authority to do so.

Gyekenyesi said at least 11 of Ohio's 88 counties have Probate Courts that won't change gender markers on birth certificates. The counties lie in the 2nd District of the Ohio Appeals Court, in southwest Ohio, where Clark County is located, and the 11th District, which includes Portage, Geauga, Lake, Ashtabula and Trumbull counties.

But the Dispatch reported that about 28 of Ohio's counties are refusing to process such requests until the Ohio Supreme Court makes its ruling.

A Mahoning County woman told News 5 in Cleveland that she filed to change her birth certificate in Mahoning County Probate Court, but a judge said he would not change the gender marker, “since the statute only allows courts to correct ‘incorrect’ entries.”

"Being told that directly was the single most humiliating thing I've ever, ever had to go through in my life," the woman said. "I was crying in the courtroom."

Students can sometimes get around the restriction by residing in a neighboring county, such as Summit, and filing to change the gender marker there.

Federal vs. state

The Ohio Department of Health initially permitted transgender people to amend their birth certificates, but that policy changed in 2016, and the reversal sparked a federal lawsuit.

In 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio decided that the health department's policy violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.

Judge Michael Watson described Ohio's rules as "nothing more than a policy ‘born of animosity toward the class of person affected’ that has ‘no rational relation to a legitimate government purpose.'"

But the debate didn't end there.

Ohioans who want to modify their birth certificates must apply to their county's probate court, which then sends the documentation to the Ohio Department of Health.

Audience questions

The clinic drew students along with people who said they were from Summit County who heard about the event.

One guest asked if it was possible to use one name professionally and another legally. Gyekenyesi said while it's common for some people, including entertainers, to have aliases, it can create problems when people use different names on official documents.

"When the names don't match, you may have problems down the line," she said.

Sage Hardiman, a Pennsylvania native, said she's not sure if it would be better for her to file for her name change locally or in Pennsylvania when she goes home.

"I did tell a lot of friends I would get some questions answered for them," she said. "I'm making them a big Google doc."

Reporter Diane Smith, who has never legally changed her name but who has family members who have, can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com. The Columbus Dispatch and News 5 contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent State clinic addresses name changes, gender markers