Northwestern law students working on changing legal names for transgender-identifying people
The work is part of the recently formed LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic at the Pritzker School of Law.
The clinic was founded in April.
Northwestern University’s recently launched LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic at the Pritzker School of Law is having students work on LGBTQ causes, such as changing the legal names of transgender-identifying people.
“All of our clients identify as nonbinary or transgender, and thus are seeking to change their names so that their legal name reflects better who they are,” Kara Ingelhart, a law professor and LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic director, said last week, according to The Daily Northwestern.
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To accomplish the task, students get to work with the clinic’s partner, the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois, which assists transgender-identifying people in changing their legal names to conform to gender identity.
The project’s goals include “the universal right of gender-self-determination,” “a long-term goal of abolishing the prison-industrial complex,” and “transformative justice principles as necessary alternatives to the criminal punishment system.”
The Northwestern clinic director has previously emphasized the need to dedicate resources to LGBTQ legal causes.
“With more people identifying as a member of the LGBTQI+ community than ever before and the intense public attention on our rights, now is the right time to present Northwestern Pritzker Law students with opportunities to engage in legal advocacy on behalf of LGBTQI+ community members,” Ingelhart said in April at the foundation of the clinic.
One action the clinic has taken to fulfill this goal is to file an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case U.S. v. Skrmetti. The court is considering whether Tennessee’s ban of so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors is constitutional. The clinic is arguing that it isn’t.
“This brief has the power to change hearts and minds because most Americans are not aware of the deep historical roots of people identifying as a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth,” Ingelhart said last month about the case.
In addition to working on legal name changes, students also maintain a list of what The Daily Northwestern calls “anti-LGBTQ and anti-transgender bills.”
Northwestern University is not alone among institutions of higher education in trying to oppose what it considers discriminatory laws.
In June, the University of Southern California announced that it had expanded its LGBTQ+ Student Center in response to “misguided bills” nationwide.
The University of Oregon maintains an “emergency fund” for transgender-identifying students with “gender-affirming resources.”
“The LGBTQIA+ Student Emergency Fund is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ students at the University of Oregon to request emergency funding one time during each academic year to pay for items that impact their sexuality or gender identity,” the description says.
Campus Reform contacted the LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic, Pritzker School of Law, and Northwestern University for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
