Why changing your identity documents matters when you’re not cisgender
People get name changes all the time, for all kinds of reasons, but for transgender and nonbinary people alike, a legal name change is a deeply personal experience. It is, in effect, a way to affirm one’s identity and control your own narrative. If you’re contemplating changing your name to better reflect your identity, you’re […]
Getting to know the basics of LGBTQ estate planning
Before the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision, estate planning for LGBTQ couples involved issues quite different from those you might expect to find in AARP’s magazine. On the other hand, well before the June 2015 decision, AARP already did carry an article to help LGBTQ couples with some special and serious challenges. In many ways, estate planning […]
LGBTQ couples find marriage equality means divorce equality
When the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged marriage equality as the law of the land, surely most Americans understood that Obergefell v. Hodges would change LGBTQ breakups, too. But as one writer points out, only slowly did some come to appreciate the meaning of divorce equality. While every divorcing couple has unique needs, the laws and […]
Some LGBTQ parents need to adopt their own kids
With the Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage and ruling that same-sex marriages must be treated as fully equivalent to opposite-sex ones, you might assume that LGBTQ+ parents would have all the same rights that heterosexual ones have. Ultimately, the courts may yet determine that they do. However, there are currently some key differences in how same-sex […]
Illinois public schools to include LGBTQ history
As states throughout the country work to embrace diversity, Illinois just took the next step to promote inclusion within its schools. A new bill signed into law this past summer by Governor J.B. Pritzker requires schools to add LGBTQ teachings to their curriculum. According to the 2019 bill, public school history classes must now include […]
How to change the name and gender on your driver’s license
People who identify as transgender are able to change their birth name among friends and family, but it can be harder to change a birth name on official documents. If you are transgender, you may be uncomfortable with using your driver’s license to identify yourself. Handing over a document with a name and gender that […]