Transgender Woman Wins Her Day in Court

The Illinois Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to file a name change petition and fee-waiver request for Daunn Turner — a disabled, transgender woman. A circuit court judge had originally denied the name change and fee waiver, saying Turner’s name change was “not that important.”

Lambda Legal is representing Turner, a 52-year-old transgender woman seeking to change her name from Donald to Daunn. She wants the name change to better reflect her female identity and to avoid the harassment and discrimination that can result when people learn her current name.

Turner is disabled and receives benefits from the Social Security Disability Insurance Program. When she submitted her name change petition along with an Application To Sue As a Poor Person on July 6, 2007, the Will County Circuit Clerk declined to file her papers, refusing her an official record or case number. Adding insult to injury, when asked to consider Turner’s disability and financial situation, the Chief Judge refused, telling her that she should ask for money from her friends on her upcoming birthday to help fund her name change.

Turner’s case is a clear example of the need to provide access to fair courts for all. It is a stark reminder of the discrimination and hostility that transgender people face, even when seeking to do something as seemingly uncontroversial as changing their name. Most states, including Illinois, allow a name change for any reason other than to perpetuate a fraud. In other words, there is no reason Turner should be denied a name change, and she is now one step closer to completing the process.

Want to learn more about access to fair courts? Visit Lambda Legal’s Fair Courts Project.