For hundreds of transgender people trying to establish new identities, Manhattan courts have played a crucial role. Nearly 400 transgender people have sought and been granted name changes either from male to female, female to male or ambiguous, making New York a name change capital of the country. They've enlisted the help of city advocates who specialize in the emerging field of transgender law—now the network is almost 200 lawyers strong.

New York courts have made two important rulings that helped establish ground rules for cases involving transgender people. In one, an appeals panel overruled a Manhattan civil court judge who required a doctors’ note for name changes in transgender cases. In the second, a judge in Westchester waived a requirement that name changes and home addresses be printed in the newspaper. He said that the requirement posed safety issues for people in gender transition.

For transgender people name, changes carry great symbolic weight, but the legal issues that surround the process can stand in the way. That's why one group, the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, matches volunteer lawyers from corporate firms with name change cases. “In a way, it’s a big coming-out process—with a judge,” said the executive director of the project. With the help of a lawyer, one 25-year-old poetry slam artist was able finally be rid the name his parents gave him—Laura. “It felt like giving away, say, an ugly Christmas sweater your mom made you,” he told the NY Times.