Amid arcade machines at the Logan Street Market last Thursday, local attorney Shannon Fauver set up at a cafe table to organize name change petition documents. She was hosting a free legal clinic for people who want to change their names, the majority of whom are transgender.
In 2023, when the Kentucky legislature passed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, Fauver started the free legal name change clinic to help young adults. Fauver works with multiple attorneys to run the program, which also serves people who need to change their names for other reasons, like following a divorce. Fauver doesn’t ask if a client is transgender.
The day Donald Trump won the election, Fauver said she had her phone turned off to compose herself. Soon after, she began fielding calls from LGBTQ+ clients and friends about what could happen to their rights and how to prepare for the possible onslaught of actions targeting trans people.
One of Trump’s recent executive orders requires the federal government to define sex as only male or female. The order says “women are biologically female, and men are biologically male,” which means federal employees and agencies would no longer recognize transgender, nonbinary, intersex and two-spirit people.
The order also directed the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.” That runs counter to the Biden administration’s 2022 policy allowing passport holders to use the gender-neutral “X” marker.
News reports say Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered his department not to advance passport applications with the “X” marker.
Fauver said she sees the Trump administration's policy changes, which don’t affect the name change process, as an attempt to “erase trans people.” And that could be why some trans people are taking steps now to update their official documents.
“They're just scared. They want to do whatever they can to protect themselves, which is what we're doing, the documents, not just the name changes,” Fauver said.
Fauver said she’s seen the benefits of changing a person’s government ID to match their identity: It can keep others from misgendering them or calling them by the wrong name.
The petition for a name change is straightforward, and in Jefferson County, doesn't require a hearing.
But the petition is just the first step. After that, the person needs to update their official documents to the change: drivers’ licenses, Social Security cards, passports, birth certificates, insurance, credit cards and certifications.
It’s a “tsunami of paperwork,” said Jenna Satton, a transgender Louisville resident who attended the name change clinic.

The free clinic saved her $140 in filing fees and the hunt for an attorney, she said.
Satton’s journey to her transition began when she had time off from work in 2016 to recover from an injury. That gave her time to reflect on her past and connect the dots.
“When I started looking more and figuring more about it out, I started saying, ‘Oh, well, that's actually what that was, that's more what that was, that's more what that was,’ and it's more of a revelation than figuring it out,” she said. Satton said Louisville has always been home, but she would consider leaving the state if needed.
“If things start going south — real south — I have places I can go to. I have friends up in Buffalo, New York, or family in California I could probably go stay with, or at least go and hang with while I get myself back on my feet,” she said.
Satton said she’s an optimist when it comes to how much the Trump administration can actually do to harm trans rights.
“There's only so much that they can do, because there's gonna be so much pushback from everyone else, especially with what he's done in the past,” she said.
The next free name change clinic will be in March.