Judge disagrees with parents, doctors. Says transgender teen needs to 'Age. Develop. Mature'

Cameron Knight | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Zay Crawford Zay Crawford felt trapped in a boy’s body at a young age. With puberty fast approaching, she got an implant that suppressed the puberty process. This is the story of one family’s journey to acceptance and understanding of their 12 year-old daughter.

When a 15-year-old transgender teen wanted a legal name change, a Warren County judge said "no," despite the teen's parents and doctors supporting the decision.

Warren County Probate Judge Joseph Kirby said teens lack the "maturity, knowledge and stability" to make such a decision, court documents said.

The teen, whom The Enquirer is not naming, has been in therapy at the Lindner Center for about a year and is receiving medical treatment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the documents state.

Josh Langdon, an LGBT rights lawyer, said in a news release Wednesday that both of the teen’s parents and medical professionals at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center supported the name change.

While the teen can go by any name he wishes, his legal name still appears on school documents and other official identification.

Langdon said the teen was diagnosed by Dr. Lee Ann Conard with gender dysphoria, a condition caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.

The name change is part of the “gender confirmation” process and Langdon said it is a primary step in treatment for gender dysphoria.

However, Kirby declined the application for the change.

"Whether [the teen] is experiencing Gender Dysphoria or is just not comfortable with her body is something that only time will reveal," Kirby wrote in his decision. "Is [the teen's] distress brought about by confusion, peer pressure, or other non-transgender issues – or is it truly a mismatch between her gender identity and her body."

In a footnote to the decision, Kirby acknowledged that using pronouns improperly can be offensive to the transgender community, but said using "they" as replacement made the documents too hard to read.

"No disrespect is meant to the child in this decision," the footnote said.

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Langdon said Kirby's action deprives the teen's parents of their federal constitutional right to make decisions for their child and completely ignores the decision of medical professionals.

"Adolescence is a time of fevered exploration," Kirby wrote. "The Court is sympathic to the parents of the child and their desire to assuage their child. In essense, the Court isn't saying 'no' to the name change. The Court is simply saying 'not yet.'"

In the decision, the judge tells the teen to ask again "once you become an adult."

"Age. Develop. Mature," Kirby writes.

“Judge Kirby’s decision ignores the reality that transgender teens are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide,” Landgon said.

Warren County was home to Leelah Alcorn, a Kings Mill transgender teen who took her own life in December 2014, saying she was being forced to undergo conversion therapy.

Langdon previously represented Rachel Dovel when the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s board refused to provide insurance coverage for Dovel’s gender confirmation surgery. Dovel sued and the lawsuit was eventually settled when the library agreed to cover the surgery.

Langdon has not said if a lawsuit or other action will be taken against the Warren County Probate Court or Kirby, but offered a warning in his press release.

“We will not let this stand,” Langdon said.

Kirby's decision can be appealed to Ohio's 12th District Court of Appeals.