Polis Signs Bill Letting Trans People Change Names After Felonies

Tiara Latrice Kelley was granted victim support funds after the nightclub where she worked, Club Q, fell victim to a deadly mass shooting. But when Kelley went to the bank to cash the check, she was rejected.

Kelley is a transgender woman who has gone by the name Tiara for decades, but her legal first name is still the name she was born with. So when the bank saw her birth name on the check, "they didn't believe" the check was for her, says Z Williams, co-director of the Bread and Roses Legal Center, which Kelley had to call to confirm her identity to the bank.

Kelley says the experience was "dehumanizing."

At the time, Kelley couldn't legally change her first name because of a Colorado law that required people convicted of a felony to show good cause before a judge would change their name. Seventeen years ago, Kelley got a felony charge converted from a series of sex-work-related misdemeanors in Florida, she says, keeping her legally tied to her "dead name."

But now those ties have been severed. Governor Jared Polis signed a law on April 19 that adds conforming with a person's gender identity to the definition of good cause for felons requesting a name change.

With the new law, Kelley says she plans to change her name "as soon as possible."

"I am really glad that future generations of trans people like myself have one less thing to worry about when trying to affirm their identity," Kelley says. "I feel honored, I feel amazed, I feel proud of our legislators here in Colorado — most of them, at least."

House Bill 24-1071 passed by a 23-12 vote in the Senate and a 43-18 vote in the House; the law took effect immediately upon the governor's signature.

Williams says that "many" of the legal center's clients confronting issues similar to those Kelley faced will benefit from the change.

"Anytime there's those additional barriers to someone who's already traumatized, it decreases people's likelihood of getting the support that they need," Williams says. "We saw it, especially with Club Q, because of the number of people who are part of the [transgender] community, but we know that this happens with domestic violence, sex assaults, other forms of assault, bias-motivated attacks."

Besides improving access to victim services, the new law will allow transgender people like Kelley to do everything from paying bills to going to the doctor's office "without having to be embarrassed by a previous name that you don't even recognize anymore," Kelley said while testifying for the bill.

Despite the attention the bill received in the legislature, the signing was given little fanfare. Polis signed the bill administratively without a ceremony or an announcement from his office beforehand, only revealing that he had signed it three days later.

The quiet signing comes amid controversy. Two Coloradans are suing state legislators for interrupting their testimony on the bill after they repeatedly misgendered and deadnamed transgender people during their speeches. The floor debate on the bill also featured legislators clashing over deadnaming Kelley, whose experience inspired the law.

Outside of the issues of decorum, some opponents argued that the bill would make it easier for felons to hide their criminal records.

"How are we going to ever hold somebody accountable for their felonies, their sexual predator background, if we can't use their name?" Republican Representative Scott Bottoms said during a debate on February 23. "When do we do something that actually protects people rather than protects the criminals?"

Others claimed that the bill was not needed because gender identity could already be included in a judge's interpretation of good cause for a name change.

But advocates said previous names are still listed on an individual's record and background checks, so the felony would not be hidden, and the bill would make the name-change process more clear and consistent for everyone regardless of an individual judge assigned to the case. The name change must still be approved by the court under the new law.

"It's always been about being able to affirm who you are. And nothing else," Kelley says.

Supporters had asked Polis to sign the bill publicly so they could have a signing ceremony, and they're "a little disappointed," Williams says.

"But we're happy about the overall accomplishment," Williams adds. "This is a huge win for us and for trans people all over the state. ... We’ve made it a little bit easier to be trans in Colorado."