What’s In a Name? California Legislation to Ensure Equality in Name Change Options

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Vivek Malhotra

Newly married, Michael and Diana decided that they wanted to share one family name. To them, it was a deeply personal decision, but a simple change: Michael Buday would take his wife’s last name, Bijon, as his own. Little did they know the fuss it would cause.

Their challenge against a government that refused to officially recognize Michael’s choice to take his wife’s name has inspired state legislation to codify the rights of men and women alike to make their own name choices upon marriage or domestic partnership. The bill, AB 102, was introduced this year by San Francisco Assembly member Fiona Ma, and is co-sponsored by the ACLU and Equality California.

It all started with a Los Angeles County marriage license application, divided right down the middle of the page into “Groom’s Personal Data,” and “Bride’s Personal Data.” On the bride’s side were spaces to indicate both her birth and current names, but no similar option for the groom to indicate a change in name. Excited about their impending nuptials, Michael and Diana filled out the form to the best of their ability, and decided they would make sure the name change was recorded accurately on their official license.

Soon after the wedding, however, when they went back to submit their signed marriage license, they were told that Michael would have to petition the court if he wanted to change his name officially. To their dismay, this would involve a court appearance, paying an over three-hundred dollar fee, and publishing the name in a newspaper for four weeks to ensure there were no objections. The injustice in this double standard was starting to sink in: was a woman expected to go through a court process if she decided to take her husband’s name after marriage?

Their local congressman’s office suggested that Michael might try going to a local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office and getting a new license with his married name. Marriage license in hand, Michael was met with laughter and ridicule by the local DMV workers. Even after talking to the DMV manager, Michael was unable to get a driver license reflecting his choice to change his name.

Michael and Diana gave the government one last shot to do right by them. They filled out and sent the state Office of Vital Records an application to amend their California marriage license to reflect Michael’s correct married name. The agency wrote back that it could not change the name.

The ACLU of Southern California ultimately filed a lawsuit in federal court based on constitutional guarantees of equal protection and state anti-discrimination statutes.

The publicity surrounding Michael and Diana’s story and the related lawsuit sparked much interest among state lawmakers who wanted to ensure that California law respects the name choices of married couples. Equality California and other LGBT organizations have also received a number of complaints from domestic partners who faced considerable difficulty in recording their name changes without resorting to the judicial process.