Transitioning teen cannot change name, Mississippi Supreme Court rules

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a ruling denying a transgender teen's name-change petition.

The ruling comes nearly two years after a then 16-year-old undergoing a gender transition filed a petition to change his name to better fit his gender identity. Both of the teen's parents consented to the name change. But Hinds County Chancery Judge Tametrice Hodges in November 2023 denied the petition, citing the teen's lack of maturity.

The Mississippi Supreme Court voted 8-1 to uphold the ruling.

“The petitioner’s primary appellate argument is that the chancellor had no discretion to deny the name-change petition because it was uncontested and both parents agreed,” the majority opinion reads. “But Mississippi law says otherwise.”

Presiding Justice Leslie King was the sole dissenting vote. He wrote that the record in the case is deficient, leaving it unable for the Supreme Court to decide whether the lower court was wrong to dismiss the petition.

“I find that the chancery court’s order should be vacated and that the case should be remanded,” King said in his dissent.

The initial petition was filed by the teen's mother in July 2023. She sought to change her child's first, middle and last names. She requested to change the first name to a more masculine name, the middle name to her own middle name and the last name to the father's last name only — the last name is currently hyphenated.