On Peachtree Street, a grey 40-story skyscraper called the Promenade Tower overlooks several other buildings on the block.
Inside, white navigation signs with red arrows lead to a fancy touchscreen elevator where a legal name change clinic is welcoming a few clients.
The event’s host is the Southern Legal Center for Youth, or SLCY. The College Park, Georgia, nonprofit is hoping to make the lives of queer and trans young adults a little easier as the state and federal governments adopt anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
“It’s just something small that we could do that has a big impact in our young people’s lives,” said Liz Harding Chao, the founder of SLCY, who identifies as queer and genderfluid.
Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, he’s made moves to ban trans people from serving in the military. The order is active despite ongoing legal action, and some service members are already facing possible removal.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld or supported laws in places throughout the country that prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. Georgia adopted such legislation in 2023 under Senate Bill 140.
And now, a bill just became law on Tuesday that bans trans girls from competing in girls’ school sports.
“I try not to think about the attacks too much because it is emotionally draining,” Harding Chao said.
“I’m a gender expansive person myself, and I use a different name than the name I was given at birth. So, it’s really important to me as a member of the LGBTQ+ community to serve young people in our community and especially knowing everything that they’re going through right now.”
The summer name change event was the second hosted by SLCY. The nonprofit hosted the same event for the first time in April.
Princess Jauan Durbin was initially a client going through the legal process of changing their name.
“My former name is Jauan. And I still have that name, a part of my name. I saw the power firsthand for myself on what that process was like for me,” Durbin said.
“To be a queer Black person in the South currently in this climate … we’re not always seen. We didn’t get to choose our names. And so to take back your power and to affirm yourself, I think is so important.”
-Princess Jauan Durbin
Durbin is nonbinary. They say they’re fluid when it comes to their identity after being immersed in ballroom culture, where they were given the name Princess.
Ballroom refers to a competitive, performance-based subculture within Black and Brown queer and trans community.
“It’s a space where when I walk in, everybody calls me she/her. That was so affirming. I’ve never felt that way about a pronoun. For people to see, to acknowledge my femininity. And it be, you know, inherent,” Durbin said.
Durbin says the SLCY volunteer legal staff walked them through filing the required name change forms and paying for the service, which can be upwards of $200 depending on location.
Name changes in Georgia require several steps. Individuals would have to send items like petitions and public notices to a Superior Court before attending a hearing, about a month after submission.
“We’re helping folks do this pro se. Pro se is when you do the process yourself without an attorney. Moving forward, we want to be able to refer them to an attorney and have everyone have their own attorney who helps them file the paperwork. Basically, all the client has to do is just sign the paperwork,” Harding Chao said.
She says the organization’s work does come with a price, and funding is needed.
But, though she hasn’t gone through the formal name change process, Harding Chao understands the validation that comes from it.
“When I was living in Australia, I experienced a lot of racism for being of Chinese background. So after that experience, as my pen name and my publishing name, I use Chao as my last name, which is my mother’s last name, because I’m like, ‘Well, I want people to know that I’m Chinese because that’s my heritage and it’s nothing to be ashamed of,’” she said.
Durbin also understands that validation, especially in today’s political climate.
“To be a queer Black person in the South currently in this climate … we’re not always seen,” Durbin said. “We didn’t get to choose our names. And so to take back your power and to affirm yourself, I think is so important.”
Staff with the Southern Legal Center for Youth say they plan to host another name change clinic in the fall.
This story is part of the ongoing series Beyond Pride, in which WABE reporters take a deeper look at the issues affecting LGBTQ people in Georgia. Plus, hear LGBTQ Atlantans in their own words, check out a Pride events calendar running through the fall, LGBTQ coverage from other NPR stations across the South and more.
