Fialkowski first filed for the name change on Dec. 16, according to online court records. Following a hearing in early January, her application was denied and the case dismissed Jan. 21 by Lynchburg Circuit Court Judge F. Patrick Yeatts.

Notice of the denial was mailed to Fialkowski. No letter or stated reason accompanied the denial notice, said Katie D. Fletcher, a Richmond attorney who now represents Fialkowski in a second application request pending in Circuit Court.

“No explanation was ever given,” Fialkowski, 24, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Fialkowski said she was surprised to learn she had been summoned to court for a hearing over the initial application. She said she represented herself without an attorney and was unprepared for questions from Yeatts on her medical history.

Fialkowski said Yeatts asked at the January hearing about her transition from male to female. She said he expressed concerns that she had not been living long enough as a female and put the matter under court advisement at that time.

An attempt to reach Yeatts for comment Tuesday was not successful.

In a recent brief filed to the Circuit Court, Fletcher argues Fialkowski complied with the legal requirements for a name change.