DENVER — A bill headed to the Colorado state House Judiciary Committee will make it easier for convicted felons seeking gender affirming care to legally change their names.
Right now, individuals convicted of a felony can change their name only for "good cause." The bill, HB 1071, would add gender affirming care as a reason of good cause. A judge would still need to make the ultimate decision on individual cases.
"We realized that this is something that has to happen, not just for me, but there are hundreds and hundreds of other transgender people in the same situation," said Tiara Kelley, a trans woman living in Colorado. She said she was convicted of a felony while living in Florida.
"So in Florida, when you have three of a similar charge, whether they’re misdemeanors, and they’re three of a similar charge, they become a felony charge, so that’s where my felony came from, was from being a sex worker and having three different charges for that," she said.
Kelley said that her felony conviction changed her world. As she began her gender affirming care, a piece of her past always remained: her legal name. She said it is a name she no longer identifies with and shudders when she hears it.
"Every single time, and it's horrible. I hate it. I absolutely hate it," she said. "I don’t recognize that person. I don’t recognize that name, and there’s something that happens within my gut when I hear that name. It’s almost like a punch in the face."
The bill is headed to the state House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 30. If the bill eventually passes, it would be called Tiara's law. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Lorena Garcia, a Democrat who represents District 35. She spoke with 9NEWS about why she decided to support it.
What is HB 1071?
Garcia: HB 1071 is clarifying in our state law that if you have a felony and you’re also trans, that you can get a name change if the court allows it. One of the challenges that exist is that the language can be ambiguous in our state statues. I’m sure any of you that pick up a state statute book can agree. In this case, there’s a section in the law that says "good cause," and what we want to do in this case is add gender affirming as good cause. One of the things that’s important about this bill is that it doesn’t change anything else. It’s just making a law that exists accessible to everybody.
Why do you think it's important to bring this bill forward?
Garcia: We already know that trans people are disproportionately represented in our legal system. They are convicted of felonies at a much higher rate. Twenty-one percent of transgender women, 16% of gender binary people, 10% of transgender men have been to prison where as 5% of the population overall have been to jail.
Given that so many of our community members [who] are trans go through our penal system, and maybe when they were in the process they hadn’t transitioned yet or hadn’t made the decision of changing their names or haven’t made the decision of wanting to do so legally. Because of the fact that we have this disproportionality, it prevents them in the future to make this important change for themselves for their mental health, for their identity.
If this law passes, and a trans individual convicted of a felony is able to get their name changed, would their felony conviction be attached to the the name they change to?
Garcia: That’s no question. If people get their name changed, whether their trans or not, their criminal record is still attached to their Social Security number.
It’s still a court's decision to decide whether or not you should have a name change, so you still have to go through background check, you still have to go through fingerprinting. And even when you do get granted a name change, you still have your dead name attached to your record. So it’s not like you disappear and you become somebody new. You still have your history there. The process is arduous. It is not a simple process.
What's your message to those who may oppose this bill?
Garcia: We’re not changing anything in law here. We’re not granting new rights. We’re clarifying what exists, and what everyone in this building should be upholding is everyone’s right to live within the rights that we have. We have to make it accessible for everybody.
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