If you’re in Toledo and need to change your name, a law school can help with that. Or, at least, it could last month.
The University of Toledo’s College of Law boasts a student organization with a clever name. At UToledo.edu, OUTLaw is described thusly:
[OUTLaw supports] LGBTQ+ law students and allies, while also promoting the presence of the LGBTQ+ community and raising awareness of social issues.
On January 21st, the organization hosted a name-change clinic for all residents of Lucas County. The idea, apparently, was to help those who wish to identify as the opposite of their sex and bear a reflective moniker.
WTOL profiled a fan of the event:
Local fashion designer Jerra Kaitlynn Whittaker went through the process of changing her name years ago and said events like this show progress is happening for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to feel more like themselves.
“To all the law students that took their Saturday, that volunteered to do this, your Saturdays are commodities. I have a lot of friends in law school, and that is heartwarming to know that there are people that care,” said [Jerra].
[She] wishes groups like OUTLaw were around when she went through her name change process back in 2014, a process that can be complicated and challenging for lay people.
…
“I lived in Omaha, Nebraska, and there [weren’t] a whole lot of resources for trans people back then. So, I started…delving into this on my own,” said [Jerra].
Over the past few years, the idea of identity has certainly changed. Until recently, first names were generally considered permanent; outside of grammar, there was no such thing in the American lexicon as “gender;” and sex was simply observed at birth.
These days, we’re told male or female is “assigned” by guessing physicians, “deadnaming” is a scourge, and there are all-new categories of designation: one’s gender and preferred pronouns.
It’s a redesigned America:
ACLU Demands Uber Eats Stops ‘Deadnaming’ and Misgendering Its Drivers
BYU ‘Human Development’ Course Features the ‘Genderbread Person,’ Says Jesus Was ‘Not Masculine’
College Founded in 1892 Offers Dorm for Transgender Students
University Renames Its Women’s Clinic Because ‘Women’ Was Medically Inaccurate
Christian Church Leads Prayer to the ‘God of Pronouns,’ the ‘Great They/Them’ Who Breastfeeds
Once focused solely on academics, educational institutions have thrown their hats into the social-issue ring. In December, the University of Vermont held a workshop on breast binding. And Princeton provides biologically male transgender students “tucking tape.”
Both the University of North Dakota and the University of Pennsylvania have launched free clothing closets so alternatively-identifying attendees can borrow garments to match their gender identity. The University of Toledo offers something similar.
From Northwestern Ohio’s Channel 11:
[OUTLaw]…set up a community closet at the clinic with clothes for transgender and nonbinary members to take for free if they chose.
As noted by WTOL, it’s all about one’s own truth:
[Jerra] said going through the process helped her connect with her own true identity; but at the end of the day, she’s transgender because of how she feels — not what her name is.
Nonetheless, it’s a new era. And what parents name their babies may one day be put aside for something considered more authentic.
-ALEX
See more content from me:
Hotshot Texas Banker Becomes Castrated Dragon Lady, a Father/Son Rift Ensues
University Offers Gen Z Excused Absences for ‘Self-Care’
State University Offers Free Clothes to Help Students Change Their Gender
Find all my RedState work here.
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