Two Catholic Schools Offer Law Clinics to Aid Trans and Nonbinary People

Two Catholic universities in California are providing free legal services to assist trans and nob-binary people to complete the lengthy and complicated process of legal name change. 

According to Sojourners, the University of San Diego (USD)and Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Los Angeles are helping people deal with “documents like birth certificates, marriage licenses, driver’s licenses, passports, and social security cards.” Both clinics are run by students and volunteers. USD is a Catholic, lay-run school, while LMU is operated by the Jesuits.

USD’s clinic started in 2018 and meets once a month in a virtual environmenrt.LMU’’s project  began in 2022, experienced a brief hiatus, but has beenrevived over the past year. 

Sammi Mrowka, a trans and non-binary graduate student at USD who uses “he” and “they” pronouns, benefitted from the clinic’s services, telling Sojourners that having his identification documents match his pronouns and name lifted an enormous burden. He stated: 

“It was worth it to go through all of the mental stress and gymnastics with these government offices to finally get the relief of, for example, going to a doctor’s office and not having to worry about them using my deadname or misgendering me,. I can feel the huge, huge relief, realizing how intense it was every single day having to think about all that, to now, where everything’s done.”

Mrowka said he was  initially “shocked” that the clinic was affiliated with a religious institution, but the clinic’s mere existence resolved many of his doubts. Sojourners reported that USD’ clinic has helped over 1,200 people since its 2018 opening. 

Lilly Wood, a law student who serves on the board of USD’s clinic, said  that the clinic’s work is now more important than ever: 

“It’s hard to be optimistic right now. We hear a lot from participants about their concerns. It’s unsettling to not know what’s going to happen next, but we’ll be here to support the community as much as possible. We’re lucky enough to be in California, which is very protective of trans rights, but we’re still kind of at the mercy of the federal government in some ways.”

With anti-trans rhetoric and legislation gaining traction, IDs reflecting trans people’s names and pronouns are crucial to their ability to access services without harassment or discrimination. Siobhan Kelly Fogarty, a third-year law student at LMU, who, along with fellow law student Rachanna Reddi, revived the schools clinic, expressed her belief that theirwork is mandated by the school’s charism: 

“We’re a Jesuit university, and our school has this social justice mission. [The clinic’s] mission is to serve the LGBTQIA+ community seeking name and gender marker changes.”

Fogarty, who grew up Catholic and had reservations about attending LMU, explained why she ultimately chose to do so:

“[I] didn’t have the best experience as an openly queer kid. I was concerned about coming to Loyola at first, and finding these communities is what made me feel okay. I saw that Loyola had an LGBTQ org that was the first of its kind in the country. [It’s important] to create space in these faith-based communities where everyone is welcome and seen and heard and safe.”

Although both clinics are recognized by their institutions and enjoy broad community support, they each occupy somewhat unofficial statuses on their campus. 

“The school is supportive of the clinic, but it’s unique in the sense that it is entirely student run,” Wood said. “The name change and gender marker clinic is run more like a student organization,” she added. “There are six or seven of us right now and we run everything.” Volunteer attorneys also assist and supervise as needed. The status of USD’s clinic means that students cannot work at the clinic for credit, and the clinic is not ran by the Legal Aid Society nor facilitated by the school. 

Similarly, at LMU, the clinic is “one of the only [organizations] on campus that isn’t officially organized, meaning they don’t receive school funding,” Sojourners reported. “Which would allow for a director, office on campus, and for students to get school credit.”

Yet the work continues and is bearing fruit not only legally or in terms of civil rights, but also ecclesiastically. While the students behind the clinic connect their work  to their faith, Mrowska also indicated that the clinic expanded his idea of what Catholics and a Catholic institution can look and feel like. 

He told Sojourners that USD’s clinic “practiced a lot of the virtues that I learned as a kid growing up in church, in terms of radical acceptance and deep compassion and servitude toward the community.” They added that the clinic is “another example of what neighborly love could look like. They don’t pretend everything is fine in the United States, but it’s so focused on what we can do with what we have.”

—Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, January 14, 2025