Thursday, June 9, 2016

ATLANTA (AP) — A transgender man in Georgia is appealing a judge's refusal to grant his legal name change.

Columbia County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper in March rejected a name change petition from the transgender man seeking to legally change his name from Rebeccah Elizabeth Feldhaus to Rowan Elijah Feldhaus.

LGBT-rights group Lambda Legal on Thursday appealed the denial.

Roper wrote in his order that name changes which allow someone to "assume the role of a person of the opposite sex" are effectively "a type of fraud on the general public" and "offend the sensibilities and mores of a substantial portion of the citizens of this state."

The judge wrote that he would approve the name Rowan because it's gender neutral, but he rejected the name Elijah because it's not.

(Copyright 2016. The Associated Press.)