Ohio Court OKs Lesbians’ Name Change

In a victory for gay rights, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a lesbian couple can legally adopt a last name they created.

The court said in a 6-1 vote that Belinda Lou Priddy and Jennifer Lane Bicknell followed required procedures to change their names and their intent was not fraudulent.

The ruling reversed lower courts’ decisions.

Appeals courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania also have ruled over the last few years that trial courts cannot arbitrarily deny requests by homosexuals and transsexuals to change their names.

In Ohio, lower courts said the couple’s new name would be fraudulent because it would give the public the misperception that same-sex marriages were lawful, thereby violating state policy.

Justice Alice Robie Resnick wrote in the majority opinion that, despite the “unique circumstances involved” in the case, the only issue before the court was whether the couple’s request to change their last names was reasonable and proper under state law.

“Any discussion, then, on the sanctity of marriage, the well-being of society, or the state’s endorsement of nonmarital cohabitation is wholly inappropriate and without any basis in law or fact,” Resnick wrote.

Priddy, 31, and Bicknell, 33, filed individually in 1999 to change their last names to “Rylen,” which they created by combining letters from each of their last names.

The couple have lived together for 11 years. Priddy was artificially inseminated and gave birth prematurely to triplets last fall. Two babies died. The surviving girl, Sarah, has the last name of Rylen.

Both the Butler County Probate Court and the 12th Ohio District Court of Appeals denied their requests to change their names.