Legislation intended to help transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students legally change their names received its first reading at the Tuesday meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming.
Senate Bill #2657 would allocate funding for students to work with the College of Law’s Civil Legal Services Clinic to go through the legal process of a name change for free while enrolled at UW. The Human Resources department currently requires students to change their name legally with the state of Wyoming before allowing a name to be changed in the University system.
“We passed a bill in November that showed our support of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming students,” said ASUW Vice President Jacob Wilkins. “We want to ensure that all students feel safe and welcome on our campus and this piece of legislation is the first big step we’re taking to help these students.”
Filing for a name change in Wyoming costs between $70 and $100 depending on the district, according to the state-sponsored Equal Justice Wyoming legal aid program, and can cost up to an additional $200 to publish the change in a local newspaper, as required by law.
The November bill, Senate Bill #2635, caused controversy among some students and faculty who felt the bill was unnecessary, but received support from LGBT students for reaffirming ASUW’s commitment to minority voices. A volley of letters to the editor debated the bill’s merits in the Branding Iron.
This new legislation is not expected to face any major opposition from within ASUW. Wilkins voiced his support of the bill and, though the bill is still in the preliminary stages of approval, seemed confident that it would pass.
In addition to its support of transgender and other LGBT students, the bill is intended to foster a relationship between the main campus and the law school, which will be a major part of making this legislation work.
“We at ASUW, we don’t really deal with that side of campus much,” said Bailee Harris, ASUW chief of staff and co-author of the bill. “We’re hoping that we can work together and start a strong partnership.”
The bill does not seek to challenge HR’s requirement that students legally change their names before they can request a name change in the University system, which caused some confusion among student government officials. Instead the bill helps students obtain the legal name change, allowing them to then pursue a change in the University system while complying with the HR rule.
This is a strength rather than failure of the bill, Harris said, since it makes the bill easier to implement.
“Changing the HR rule has too much bureaucratic red tape. We’d never be able to remove that rule with just one piece of legislation,” said Harris. “This bill also gives these students a tool that students can take when they leave campus, as a legal name change is a lot more permanent than getting the name changed in the HR system.”
With only Senate Bill #2657 up for discussion,Tuesday’s ASUW meeting was much shorter than usual, but Wilkins encouraged students with an interest in student government to come to upcoming meetings. ASUW meets Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Union Senate chambers.
