FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTA, GA. June 2026

The Southern Legal Center for Youth (SLCY) will host its Pride Month Gender Affirming Legal Care™ (GALC) clinic on Friday, June 26, 2026, from 1–5 PM at a law firm near the  Arts Center MARTA Station in Atlanta, providing free legal name change services to transgender  and gender-expansive young adults ages 18–26 who are Georgia residents. The clinic — the latest in a series of more than seven GALC events held over the past year — will also cover all passport update fees for clients who have already completed a legal name change, removing every financial barrier to identity documentation at a moment when federal and state protections for trans people are under increasing threat. 

SLCY is the only legal aid organization in Georgia that focuses exclusively on trans and gender expansive youth and does not require income disclosure for eligibility — ensuring no young person falls through the cracks. The GALC program is made possible through a $20,000 grant from the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) Foundation and funding from the Georgia Bar Foundation (GBF), alongside pro bono support from corporate law firm partners. 

"Our gender-affirming legal work started with filling a gap that LGBTQIA+ young people in our community identified. It has grown into something much larger. Ensuring young people are called their chosen names and pronouns is suicide  prevention — and it can help reduce discrimination in housing, employment, and  education. The legal process to change one's name in Georgia can be quite challenging, especially for clients who are very young and do not have stable  housing. That is why we built GALC." 

— Liz Harding Chao, Esq., MPA, Executive Director, Southern Legal Center for Youth

The June 26 clinic takes place amid a rapidly shifting legal landscape for trans people. While  advocates successfully blocked all anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legislation in the Georgia legislature during the  most recent session, those protections are not guaranteed to hold. Nationally, Executive Order 14168 — upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — has eliminated the "X" gender marker on U.S.  passports, leaving trans people to travel on documents that do not reflect their identity and placing  them at considerable risk. Many SLCY clients report seeking name changes specifically because  having their deadname on official documents outs them as trans, leading to lost housing, education, and employment opportunities. 

"Currently, it is still legal for trans people to change their names and gender markers in Georgia.  While the legal pathways remain open, we want to help as many trans young adults engage with  these pathways as possible," said Harding. "Something as simple as a legal name change can open  the door to more opportunities and improve mental health outcomes. This work is urgent." 

GALC has pioneered a scalable pro bono partnership model in which corporate law firms fulfill their  pro bono obligations by directly staffing clinics and representing individual clients — a sustainability innovation that embeds legal resources into the community rather than relying solely on nonprofit  

funding. For many volunteer attorneys, the June 26 clinic will be their first opportunity to work  specifically with trans young adults navigating the legal system. For many clinic participants, it will  be their first-ever interaction with an attorney, and SLCY is committed to making it a transformative one. Clients facing additional barriers — including those who are 18 years old or experiencing  housing instability — receive a dedicated pro bono attorney to manage their full legal name change  from start to finish at no cost. Beyond the clinics themselves, GALC also encompasses a provider  training program for attorneys, health professionals, and other service providers — equipping legal  and allied professionals with the knowledge and skills to serve trans young people with age appropriate, culturally competent care. 

Joining Harding Chao as a spokesperson for the clinic is Princess Jauan T. Durbin, M.S.  (He/She/They), Vice President of Community Health and Partnerships at SLCY and Founder of the Southern Kiki Leaders Collective (SKLC). Durbin is a public health strategist, global health equity scholar, and former SLCY client who now leads the organization’s Gender-Affirming Legal Care program. They bridge institutional expertise with lived experience and cultural leadership — a rare combination. At the intersection of ballroom culture and public health systems, Durbin brings community trust and institutional rigor equally. As a product of the very program they now help  advance, Durbin is living proof that GALC works. 

“The research is clear — legal name concordance reduces depression, suicide risk,  and discrimination in housing and employment for trans young people. I know that  from the data, and I know it from my own life. I was once invisible on my own documents. SLCY changed that for me. Now I help other young people find themselves in theirs. That is not a coincidence — it is exactly what this program was  built to do.” 

— Princess Jauan T. Durbin, M.S. (He/She/They), VP of Community Health and Partnerships, Southern Legal Center for Youth 

"Supporting a young person with a gender-affirming legal name change is one of the simplest things an attorney can do, but it has a significant impact — reducing risk of  suicide, improving mental health outcomes, and decreasing discrimination in housing, education, and employment. By supporting our work, you're supporting the only legal aid organization in Georgia that is able to effectively reach these young people at scale." 

— Liz Harding Chao, Esq., MPA, Executive Director, Southern Legal Center for Youth 

SLCY's broader vision for legal equity in the South is a Georgia — and a nation — where trans young people are accepted by their families, communities, and the law, and where every person holds the  simple dignity of legal documents that reflect their chosen name and identity. Until that is the  reality, SLCY will continue to offer free, trauma-informed, youth-centered legal care. 

CLINIC DETAILS 

What: Pride Month Gender-Affirming Legal Care (GALC) Clinic — free legal name change services and passport updates for eligible trans and gender-expansive youth 

When: Friday, June 26, 2026 | 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM 

Where: Near Arts Center MARTA Station, Atlanta, GA (exact address provided upon registration)

Who: Trans and gender-expansive young adults, ages 18–26, who are Georgia residents (no  income disclosure required) 

Cost: Free — including all passport update fees 

Register: slcy.org/galc

Info: (404) 436-2140 | hi@slcy.org

ABOUT SOUTHERN LEGAL CENTER FOR YOUTH 

The Southern Legal Center for Youth (SLCY) is the only youth-focused legal aid organization in Georgia dedicated to serving LGBTQIA2S+ young adults. Through its trademarked Gender-Affirming  Legal Care™ (GALC) program — funded in part by the American College of Trial Lawyers Foundation and the Georgia Bar Foundation — SLCY provides free, trauma-informed legal services including  name change clinics, pro bono representation, and identity document support for trans and gender-expansive young people ages 18–26. SLCY is based in College Park, Georgia.

MEDIA CONTACT 

Jahylin McKee 

Lead Publicist, J. McKee & Co. 

jahylin@jmckeeandco.com

404-643-1392