The Freedom Oklahoma Name + Gender Marker Change Clinic In Action
Hazel is a student who enjoys working with computers and has a desire to go into STEM. She also enjoys making a difference in her community through volunteering and being an activist when she can. Hazel attended the first Name & Gender Marker Change Clinic in 2020 and has graciously shared her experience with us here.
I first saw Freedom Oklahoma’s Name and Gender Marker change Clinic back in October of 2020. I had been wanting to change my name for a long time and wanted to do both my name and gender marker at the same time, however, I had no idea where to begin. Oklahoma has a very vague set of laws around changing your gender marker via court order with no official process in place. In states without an official process in place, they tend to focus on whether or not the petition has been made in good faith. When I attended the Freedom Oklahoma clinic on November 7th via Zoom, I was matched with a very helpful volunteer who drafted my documents walked me through the guidelines for filing with the court.
On the morning of my hearing, I got ready and made sure to get to the City early for the hearing. Admittedly, I was very nervous going into the hearing but when I got there, I calmed down a lot. When I went up to the bench the judge stated that everything appeared to be in order but, she was not sure if a letter from an LCSW was sufficient to grant the change. She also stated that she needed to do more research before signing the order for my gender marker change. She briefly mentioned that the judges on that court had begun to discuss how to grant these but had not yet provided a process. She said that I made a good case for the requested relief and that she would most likely sign it that day and that she would call me and inform me of her decision. She swore me in and took my testimony then dismissed me. I left a little uneasy but optimistic overall.
About 3 hours later I received a call from the judge’s bailiff informing me that the only way she would sign the order in its entirety would be if I provided a letter from an OBGYN and that if I was not able to provide that she would only grant my name change. At that moment I knew that there may have been a mistranslation that led to that and the bailiff assumed the doctor we were talking about was a(n) OBGYN or that the judge had a much different view than what she had initially portrayed at the hearing. I felt a little blindsided at this at first as I had not heard of surgery being a pre-requisite to the change and was also informed that that was not the case by several sources.
I contacted my mentor Rebekah Wilson-Williams former OKC PFLAG chapter president now with Raising Rainbows, a(n) organization/ youth group that connects LGBTQIA+ youth ages 9-12 and their families to affirming resources, who is friends with Elizabeth Horn at Freedom Oklahoma. The same day of the hearing I received a call from Elizabeth Horn. She reassured me that everything would be sorted out and offered support throughout this period of uncertainty where my anxiety was undeniably high. Freedom Oklahoma reached out to the judge and we started a dialog that lasted through Christmas and into the New Year, during which time, my mental health started to deteriorate as a result of the anxiety and uncertainty. Through those discussions were able to conclude that a letter from a physician would be a better path towards granting the relief. I was excited and happy to learn that after several months of uncertainty that this was finally being put to rest, after a few weeks of waiting my physician was able to get the letter by the end of February and the judge promptly signed the letter upon receipt. I believe that starting dialogs about these issues and having these uncomfortable conversations are key especially when it comes to today's highly polarized political climate and especially the national dialog that has been created around ID Documents for Transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
I am grateful for the support of Freedom Oklahoma and I highly recommend the Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic to anyone looking for support through this process.
Applications for the next Name & Gender Marker Change Clinic will open on April 5, 2021.