PHILADELPHIA _ Alonda Talley, a Philadelphia transgender woman, is one of three Pennsylvanians who filed a lawsuit in Common Pleas Court Wednesday challenging a 20-year-old law that prevents them from legally changing their names.
Currently, the state's name change law contains a provision barring people convicted of certain felonies _ including rape and aggravated assault _ from ever changing their names, said Patrick Yingling, one of the attorneys representing the women.
People convicted of other felonies may change their names after a two-year waiting period.
The provision being challenged, Yingling said, was an amendment enacted in 1998 that barred those with serious felonies from ever obtaining a new name _ the presumption was it would be for fraudulent purposes, such as avoiding financial obligations.
"But there is a big problem with the law. It ends up prohibiting a lot of people with legitimate reasons for getting a name change," said Yingling, one in a group of Reed Smith lawyers who are representing the transgender women pro-bono. "In particular, for transgender people, they just want a name change that reflects their identity and true gender."
In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit, Talley, 32, said she was convicted of aggravated assault in 2009. Now, 10 years later, she identifies as a woman _ but the only government-issued identification she has cites her birth name, Adolphus. As a result, she's experienced run-ins with police and challenges to voting. She's also been stopped from trying to get on an airplane.
"I have been harassed and insulted by police who have repeatedly insisted that Adolphus is not my 'real name' and demanded I provide my 'real name," Talley said. "Police have threatened to arrest me for 'misrepresentations' or 'false pretenses' after they demanded I provide my identification and then perceived a mismatch with my identity."
A spokeswoman for the Department of State, which is named in the lawsuit, didn't know what role the office would play in the name change law.
The other plaintiffs listed in the court filing are Chauntey Mo'Nique Porter and Priscylla Renee Von Noaker. Both live in Allegheny County.
In her affidavit, Porter said she was convicted of aggravated assault in 2008: "I have endured abuse, harassment, and humiliation from police, employers, co-workers and other service providers, such as bank employees," she said. "Recently while attending a club with friends, a bouncer viewed my government-issued identification card and announced 'That's a dude!' to surrounding patrons."
Such incidents can lead to potentially dangerous situations for transgender people in what otherwise should be mundane, everyday encounters, said Luke E. Debevec, a partner in the firm's Philadelphia office.
"There's an opportunity for violence and misunderstanding and all sort of affronts to a person's dignity if you cannot be known by your own name," Debevec said.
Debevec said he believes this lawsuit is the first to challenge the constitutionality of the provision's "irrebuttable conviction bar" _ irrebuttable because those affected are not allowed to seek a court hearing to tell a judge the reason for the name change.
"We're seeking a declaration injunction against the law being enforced the way it is," Debevec said.
The law already contains provisions requiring criminal background checks, judgment record searches, public hearings and publication notices of the name change, he said.
It's also a free speech issue, said Debevec.
Pennsylvanians have the "right to protect one's own name and reputation, and in addition, to free speech, which means the right to speak and not to speak," he said, by not being forced to tell strangers that their name doesn't match their gender identity because they are transgender.
Under the current law, he added, "People can live their entire lives being forced to speak a name they don't recognize as their own identity. That's not justice."
