BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1121
          Author:   Atkins (D), et al.
          Amended:  7/9/13 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE  :  4-2, 7/2/13
          AYES:  Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
          NOES:  Walters, Anderson
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Evans
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  57-17, 5/9/13 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Gender identity:  petition for change of name

           SOURCE  :     Equality California
                      Transgender Law Center


           DIGEST  :    This bill, beginning July 1, 2014, provides that if a  
          petition for a change of name is sought to conform a petitioners  
          name to his/her gender identity, and no timely objection is  
          filed, the court is required to grant the petition without a  
          hearing, and exempts the petition action from a specified  
          publication requirement and requires that the petition and order  
          of the court indicate that the proposed name is confidential.   
          This bill authorizes a court, at the request of the petitioner,  
          to issue an order reciting the name of the petitioner as a  
          result of the court's granting of the petition.  This bill  
          requires the State Registrar to issue a new birth certificate  
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          without a court order for any person born in the state who has  
          undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of  
          gender transition and to submit to the Registrar an affidavit of  
          a physician attesting that the person has undergone that  
          treatment, as specified.  Upon receipt of the documentation and  
          a prescribed fee, the Registrar is required to establish a new  
          birth certificate reflecting the person's sex and name, if  
          applicable.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

           1. Allows any person who has undergone a clinically appropriate  
             treatment for the purpose of gender transition to petition  
             the superior court for a judgment and court order recognizing  
             the change of gender.  

           2. Requires the above petition to be accompanied by:  (a) an  
             affidavit of a physician, attesting that the person has  
             undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of  
             gender transition, as specified; and (b) a certified copy of  
             the court order changing the applicant's name, if applicable.  
              

           3. Authorizes the court, upon hearing of the petition, to  
             examine the petitioner, and any other person having knowledge  
             of facts relevant to the application, and further requires  
             the court to grant the petition at the end of the hearing if  
             the court determines that the physician's affidavit shows  
             that the person has undergone clinically appropriate  
             treatment for the purpose of gender transition.  

           4. Provides that the new birth certificate replace any birth  
             certificate previously registered for the applicant, and be  
             the only birth certificate open to public inspection.  

           5. Requires a person seeking a change of name to file a  
             petition with the court, as specified, and the court to make  
             an order reciting that petition to all interested persons so  
             that they may file an objection with the court.  

           6. Requires a copy of the order to show cause to be published  
             in a newspaper of general circulation at least once a week  

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             for four weeks. 

           7. Authorizes the court to enter an order to grant a name  
             change without hearing if no objection is filed at least two  
             court days before the hearing date.  

           8. Allows participants in the Secretary of State's address  
             confidentiality program who petition the court for a change  
             of name to be exempt from the newspaper publication  
             requirements and to have increased confidentiality of their  
             name in court records.  

          This bill:

           1. Requires the State Registrar to issue a new birth  
             certificate, without a court order, for any person born in  
             California who has undergone clinically appropriate treatment  
             for the purpose of gender transition who submits an affidavit  
             from a physician, as specified.  

           2. Requires, rather than authorizes, the court to grant an  
             uncontested name change petition without a hearing.

           3. Exempts any petition for a change of name that is sought in  
             order to conform the petitioner's name to his/her gender  
             identity from newspaper publication requirements, and  
             requires the petition and court order to indicate the  
             proposed name is confidential rather than reciting the name.

           4. Provides that the current legal name of the petitioner shall  
             be kept confidential by the court and not published in any  
             court records or public forum or media, as specified, when  
             the petition is sought to conform the petitioner's name to  
             his/her gender identity.

           Background
           
          For many transgender people, living an authentic life means  
          changing their identity documentation to reflect the way they  
          see themselves versus the way society identifies them.  The  
          ability to change one's documentation or status can have a  
          significant impact on all other aspects of a person's life  
          including employment, marriage, and inheritance rights.   
          Difficulty is created by the fact that each state (and, for  

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          foreign born United States residents and citizens, each country)  
          and the federal government has its own rules for how to change  
          names and gender marker information.  A court-ordered name  
          change is also a legal prerequisite to changing the name on many  
          other identity documents, including a driver's license, a U.S.  
          passport, or Social Security records.  

          California requires a court order, based on a physician's  
          affidavit attesting to the gender transition surgery, before the  
          state's Office of Vital Records may change the gender marker  
          and/or name on a birth certificate.  In addition, to receive a  
          court-ordered name change, a person typically must participate  
          in a hearing in open court, although judges can waive the  
          hearing requirement if no one files an objection, and must  
          publish the order to show cause for four weeks in a newspaper of  
          general circulation in the county where the petitioner lives.  

           Prior Legislation

           AB 433 (Lowenthal, Chapter 718, Statutes of 2011) authorized an  
          individual who has undergone gender transition, as specified, to  
          file a petition with the superior court in any county to seek a  
          judgment recognizing the change of gender, and required that the  
          physician's accompanying affidavit must be accepted as  
          conclusive proof of the gender change.

          AB 1185 (Lieu, 2009) would have allowed an individual who has  
          undergone a sex change operation to obtain a new birth  
          certificate, by court order from his or her county of birth, in  
          addition to his/her county of residence.   The bill was vetoed  
          by Governor Schwarzenegger.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/13/13)

          AIDS Legal Referral Panel
          California Immigrant Policy Center
          California United Institute
          Centro Legal De La Raza
          City of West Hollywood
          Equality California 
          Transgender Law Center

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           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/13/13)

          Capitol Resource Family Impact

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author: 

            The current California procedures to change a person's name  
            and/or gender are extremely costly and burdensome,  
            particularly for low-income transgender individuals who may  
            not meet the extremely low income limits to be eligible for  
            court fee waivers and who generally do not have access to  
            attorneys to help them navigate the court system. 

            AB 1121 would create a new administrative option for  
            transgender people seeking to amend the gender and/or name on  
            a California birth certificate, eliminating the unnecessary  
            interim step of getting a court order before the State  
            Registrar can change a birth certificate.  AB 1121 would also  
            remove the expensive and burdensome newspaper publication  
            requirement for transgender people seeking legal name changes  
            and would provide that a name change that is uncontested must  
            be granted without a hearing.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Capitol Resource Family Impact  
          writes that this bill creates "special privileges for a select  
          segment of society [which] will pose a significant public safety  
          concern for the rest of the public.  The law would open the door  
          for criminals, or any persons with other fraudulent intent, to  
          obtain a new identity simply by stating that his or her  
          perceived gender identity differs from the sex assigned to them  
          at birth."  
           

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  57-17, 5/9/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly,  
            Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,  
            Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,  
            Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,  
            Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres,  
            Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez

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          NOES:  Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines,  
            Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Mansoor, Morrell, Olsen,  
            Patterson, Wagner, Wilk
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Holden, Logue, Maienschein, Melendez,  
            Waldron, Vacancy


          AL:k  8/13/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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