Why Multi-Status Doesn't Work
A friend in California married her partner of many years.
Prop 8.
Court upheld their marriage. She sent in an application to have her passport updated to her new name, because she took her wife's last name.
Now, the US government is holding her passport as though she's committed fraud. For $800 they'll give her the old one back. Or, for that plus an amount I can't recall, they'll add her new name as an "a.k.a".
I was under the impression that anyone can change her name at any time. The advantage to doing so with a wedding is that most states waive the name change fee. But I'm pretty sure I could go to my town hall, fill out a form, pay a fee, and change my name to "Chevrolet Sprocknocket" if I care to do so.
I didn't want to believe this to be a gay thing.
She asked for a detailed account of what the problem is. She was told the problem is that she married a woman, and DOMA blah blah, etc.
My sense is that the government is breaking the law. I believe that if the state ok'd a name change, for whatever reason, it's not the federal government's right to challenge that. Her legal name is a matter of recorded fact. They don't get to pick it for her.
Prop 8.
Court upheld their marriage. She sent in an application to have her passport updated to her new name, because she took her wife's last name.
Now, the US government is holding her passport as though she's committed fraud. For $800 they'll give her the old one back. Or, for that plus an amount I can't recall, they'll add her new name as an "a.k.a".
I was under the impression that anyone can change her name at any time. The advantage to doing so with a wedding is that most states waive the name change fee. But I'm pretty sure I could go to my town hall, fill out a form, pay a fee, and change my name to "Chevrolet Sprocknocket" if I care to do so.
I didn't want to believe this to be a gay thing.
She asked for a detailed account of what the problem is. She was told the problem is that she married a woman, and DOMA blah blah, etc.
My sense is that the government is breaking the law. I believe that if the state ok'd a name change, for whatever reason, it's not the federal government's right to challenge that. Her legal name is a matter of recorded fact. They don't get to pick it for her.