(Headline USA) Legislators in California and Washington are trying to keep name changes a secret to enable the fantasies of transgenders.
A bill in Washington would allow “gender expression and identity” as reasons to seal, or keep out of the public record, a future petition for a name change.
A California bill would require the sealing of petitions by minors to change their name and gender on identity documents.
In states where such petitions aren’t sealed, transgender people can be discovered as transgender because their previous names are a matter of public record, just like everyone else who changes their name.
These identities can be discovered when someone is looking on the internet for background information about a person.
Democratic state Sen. Jamie Pedersen is sponsoring the Washington legislation, which passed the Senate this month with bipartisan support and is expected to also pass the House. The bill is modeled on laws in New York and Oregon and would also extend records privacy to refugees, emancipated minors and people who have been granted asylum.
Currently, only people subjected to domestic violence can have their name changes easily sealed in Washington.
Some other states, including California, also make exceptions for victims of crimes like human trafficking, stalking and sexual assault.
Some officials and law enforcement officers worry that criminals who request a name change could escape accountability under the proposals.
The approaches in Washington and California contrast starkly with recent changes in Florida and Texas to observe the number of gender transitions using public records.
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last year requested data on how many people had changed the gender information on their driver’s licenses.
The Texas Department of Public Safety found over 16,000 gender changes during the prior two years.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis asked state universities last month for data on students who had sought or received treatments for gender dysphoria.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
