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Georgia Judge Refuses To Allow Transgender Man To Legally Change His Name

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 05:37 PST, Jun 11, 2016

Lawyers for a transgender Georgia man filed an appeal this week after a judge refused his request to legally change his name, saying his choice of name would be “too masculine” and potentially even dangerous, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting.

Twenty-four-year-old Rowan Feldhaus of Grovetown, Georgia, is biologically female and was born Rebecca Elizabeth. However, the Army Reserves Sergeant and Augusta University student identifies as male and is currently seeing a therapist, taking hormones, and otherwise working on transitioning to male.

Back in February, Rowan legally petitioned to change his name from Rebecca Elizabeth to Rowan Elijah. Along with his petition, he submitted a statement from his therapist confirming that he’s transgender and confirming that changing his name is “crucial” for treating his gender dysphoria.

Nevertheless, in March, Columbia County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper denied Feldhaus’ request. Specifically, he took exception to Rowan’s choice of Elijah — the name of an Old Testament prophet — as a middle name.

“I don’t know anybody named Elijah who’s female. I’m not going to do that. I’ve never heard of that. And I know who Elijah was, one of the greatest men that ever lived. I do not approve of changing names from male to female – male names to obvious female names, and vice versa.”

The judge did allow that he has no problem with Feldhaus’ choice of first name — Rowan — saying that it is gender-neutral.

Roper then went further in his order, noting that he personally believes that “allowing” a person to identify and present as the opposite sex from their birth creates a host of problems, both for the transgender individual and society at large. Those problems include restroom safety for the individual as well as unsupervised children in the restrooms; and possible confusion from emergency personnel, insurance writers, and other situations where a person’s name and gender may conflict.

Rowan said that he felt “insulted” and “objectified” by the judge’s ruling and said that he should legally be allowed to use the same name that he, his friends, and his family already use.

“It can be a scary situation when I show up for work or the first day of class and my legal name does not match my public presentation and my gender identity. I just want to change my name so that it reflects who I am.”

In their appeal filed this week, Feldhaus’ lawyers argued that the judge over-stepped his bounds when denying Rowan’s name change.

Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Beth Littrell said that the judge’s decision defies legal precedent and common sense. First, there is no legal precedent that requires transgender people to choose gender-neutral names when they petition the courts for name changes. Second, she said that requiring Rowan to choose a gender-neutral name violates his First Amendment right to freedom of expression.

“That’s discrimination plain and simple. It really shows that the judge is making it up as he goes along and not following the rules of the law.”

This is not the first time that a judge has refused to allow a transgender individual to legally change their name.

On at least two occasions, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Oklahoma judge Bill Graves refused to allow people born female but who identified as male to change their names, citing the Bible.

“It is notable that Genesis 1:27-28 states: ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female he created them.’ The DNA code shows God meant for them to stay male and female.”

In both cases, appellate courts later reversed Graves’ rulings.

Do you think a judge should be allowed to deny a transgender person’s request to change their name?

[Image via Shutterstock/chrupka]

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