In Name Change Case, Judge Rules by 'Sexist Stereotype'

Rowan Feldhaus, a transgender man, this week appealed a trial court judge’s refusal to allow him to legally change his name.

The judge’s reasoning? “I do not approve of changing names from male to female…and vice versa,” Judge J. David Roper told the court back in March.

There is nothing in Georgia law that supports Roper’s decision, critics have pointed out.

Feldhaus’s family, friends, and coworkers all know him as Rowan Elijah, which Feldhaus is now attempting to make his legal name.

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“The real threats to public safety are by those who refuse to respect name choices or who bully people because their name doesn’t fit a sexist stereotype.”
—M. Dru Levasseur, Lambda LegalLambda Legal filed the appeal Thursday on Feldhaus’s behalf, noting, “Changing your name is time-consuming and costly and should not be denied based on sexist notions or transgender bias.”

In a blog post, the LGBTQ rights organization quoted Feldhaus as saying:

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In Lambda Legal’s briefing, the group describes Judge Roper’s refusal to allow Feldhaus’s name change:

Judge Roper has come under fire in the past for ruling against foster parents’ adoption of a child because the couple was unmarried—which Roper saw as “immoral.” Roper has also attempted to declare a higher court’s decision “void” after it overruled his judgment on a controversial custody case.

Last year, a county clerk accused the judge of taking trial documents home with him and refusing to allow them to be properly filed with the court and made accessible to the public, a felony under state law. Georgia’s Attorney General declined to investigate.

Of the judge’s decision regarding Feldhaus, Lambda Legal’s transgender rights project director M. Dru Levasseur argues, “The court misunderstands the limit of a court’s discretion in these matters. There are many people—men and women, transgender or not—who know what it feels like to be insulted because their name does not meet someone else’s gender stereotype.”

“For transgender people, having a name that reflects who they are is a meaningful step to being affirmed in the world,” Levasseur adds. “The real threats to public safety are by those who refuse to respect name choices or who bully people because their name doesn’t fit a sexist stereotype.”

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