Volunteers
Trans Legal Aid Clinic of Texas is a volunteer-run, non-profit, pro se legal clinic that assists trans and non-binary people who need help obtaining name and/or gender marker corrections in Texas.
Sign up or join our mailing list for volunteers here.
The process
Currently, the most straightforward process to change your name and/or gender marker as a trans or non-binary Texan is to file through Travis County. Travis County District Court judges have been extensively trained by local trans attorneys and allies and have created an affirming, easy process to obtain gender marker correction orders. Residency is not required to file in Travis County.
The pro se plaintiff files a petition with the following items:
– A short letter from a doctor or therapist
– An ink fingerprint card signed by the person taking the fingerprints
– A proposed order to correct their name and/or gender marker
The judge signs the order without needing a hearing, submission setting, or any other form of “prove up.” They also do not need to have a background check run (which adds time and expense) in Travis County.
Any resident of Texas, or anyone born in Texas, can make these changes through Travis County.
In other counties, the process is generally more cumbersome.
While all counties in Texas can grant name changes because it is statutorily prescribed, most require criminal background checks and hearings or some other form of prove up.
Additionally, not every county in Texas will grant sex/gender marker corrections because there is no direct statutory authority regarding these corrections.
For years advocates have been making the argument that district courts are courts of general jurisdiction and can grant any relief not prohibited by law — such as a sex/gender marker correction. Even so, only Travis County has been responsive to this argument on a consistent basis.
Occasionally Bexar County, Harris County, and others will grant gender marker changes. Still, again, that requires petitioners to appear before a judge and justify their sex/gender or jump through hoops, and success is not guaranteed.
Accordingly, TLACT recommends that all participants file their name and gender-marker and/or gender-marker-only correction petitions in Travis County, and that is the focus of our clinics.
What our volunteers do
TLACT and our volunteers do not represent any clients.
TLACT assists by providing tools (draft petition, draft proposed order, and in the case of minors ages 10-17, draft consent forms) and a resource packet for the participants to proceed on a pro se basis. Contact us if your child is under 10.
Each participant must consent to a statement of understanding in order to attend a clinic. Our volunteer lawyers, law students, and paralegals draft the petition, proposed order, and, if needed, the consent form to be provided to the participant.
We have templates for all possible drafting scenarios. As a volunteer, you will be given access to the tools needed to assist our participants.
Limitations on our work
Because we are entirely volunteer-run, and most of our volunteers only practice in Harris and surrounding counties, we generally do not draft or provide information to people looking only to correct their names if they do not reside in Travis County.
This is because Travis County allows people all over Texas to petition for name and gender marker or gender marker-only corrections regardless of residency but does not allow for name-only corrections from non-Travis County residents to keep the Court from being bogged down.
If trans individuals have to file in a county other than Travis, it is not very pro se friendly.
What volunteering entails
We are very low-key, no-obligation, laid-back people. We have a solid group of core volunteers who have worked with us for years.
When you volunteer for your first clinic, you will be paired with an experienced volunteer attorney so you can watch the process. You can do that as many times as you would like until you feel comfortable working solo. You can ask anyone any questions you have. We sometimes get unique questions and scenarios from participants, and they require the expertise of our think-tank to resolve. There will also be a YouTube video featuring Pete that you will need to watch.
Our clinics are held every month Jan-May and July-Nov. Check the calendar on the Clinic Info page. On the third Thursday of the month, we host a virtual clinic, and the following Saturday, we meet in person at the Montrose Center. No clinics in December.
You can sign up to volunteer for whatever clinics you would like.
Sign up or join our mailing list for volunteers here.