Bill of the Day: State Sen. McMahan’s “Real You Act” seeks to curb prisoner name changes, recognition of minors’ gender transitions

Y’all Politics brings you a Bill of the Day from the Mississippi Legislature that just may pique your interest.

Convicted criminals serving prison time can still seek to game the system even behind bars. State Senator Chad McMahan (R) has filed a bill that could help alleviate that possibility.

McMahan has filed “The Real You Act,” SB 2356, which seeks to prohibit incarcerated offenders from requesting a name change while also prohibiting minors from requesting legal recognitions of a gender transition.

The bill states that no offender shall have standing to file a change of name petition with the chancery court, and no chancery clerk shall file a name change petition for an offender. Further, no chancellor shall grant a change of name petition for an offender.

However, a chancellor may change the name of an offender if a district attorney, county sheriff, the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), or a MDOC Chaplain filed a petition on behalf of an offender.

McMahan’s bill goes on to state that no minor, or the parent or guardian of a minor, nor their representative or designee, shall have standing to file a gender transition petition unless a licensed physician or a licenses psychiatrist offers a letter of support for the gender transition petition. A chancery clerk, after an in-person interview with the minor, could also offer a letter of support for the gender transition petition.

You can read the full bill here.