Increasing access to trauma-informed, youth-centered, and gender-affirming legal services for youth and young adults in Georgia.
Our Gender-Affirming Legal Care for Youth Program
Our Gender-Affirming Legal Care™ for Youth (GALC) Program serves trans and gender-expansive youth ages 18-26 in Georgia with a special emphasis on BIPOC youth and those who are unstably housed or experiencing homelessness.
GALC aims to increase access to trauma-informed, youth-centered, and gender-affirming legal services for youth and young adults in Georgia through direct representation, clinics, and legal education, which center the identities and experiences of trans and gender expansive young people.
Our program offerings include:
Gender-affirming legal name change and vital documents clinics: for trans and gender-expansive 18-26 year olds who complete the legal name change process pro se (on their own)
Full representation for legal name changes: pro bono attorneys support unstably housed trans and gender-expansive young adults aged 18-24 to successfully complete their legal name change
Educational opportunities: trainings and professional development for legal professionals on GALC for youth
Gender-affirming name change clinics
We host gender-affirming name change clinics multiple times each year to help youth access safe, supportive legal assistance in updating their names and identity documents. These clinics are for trans and gender-affirming young people between 18-26 years old who are residents of Georgia. We support with:
Completing the paperwork for a legal name change in the client’s county of residence
Vital documents consultations to assess where a client is at in the name change process and supporting them to update their Social Security Card, birth certificate, drivers license, or passport
Additional legal assistance and service connections for trans and gender-expansive youth who are experiencing homelessness
Our clinics are in-person and virtual to ensure young people outside of metro Atlanta also have access to these services. If you are interested in learning more, complete the registration form and we will get back to you with information about our next clinic.
Training for legal and health professionals
Created by Princess Jauan Durbin, this 60-90 minute interactive training equips legal and health professionals with the tools needed to provide trauma-informed, culturally relevant, gender-affirming services to transgender and gender-expansive youth between the ages of 12 and 24. Through storytelling, data, systems analysis, and real-world legal case examples, participants explore how to disrupt bias, support inclusive legal advocacy, and build toward an equitable future for youth navigating identity, justice, and care.
We unpack barriers faced by LGBTQIA2S+ youth—especially Black and brown youth—and leave with concrete strategies to implement gender-affirming practices in professional settings and beyond.
The training is available both virtually and in-person.
Client Testimonials
“Today I was informed very thoroughly. This process validated my concerns and I now feel prepared to start the legal journey more confidently. Thank you for being so helpful and opening up these spaces to share your resources.”
— Former Client“I believe everything was done extremely well and everyone was quite respectful/welcoming! It was definitely a lot of content to cover but they made it more digestible/clear.”
— Former Client
“Very kind, approachable, and understanding! Easily and clearly explained the process. Wouldn’t change anything! Thank you all for your hard work!”
— Former Client“Even if I had not received counsel in filling out the forms, just having some one locate and send the forms, organized, to my house was immense help. It removed the bureaucratic barriers that had previously prevented me from getting through the legal process. Having that envelope with clear instructions demystified a process which I am certain is designed to be confusing and inaccessible but to a small, privileged few.”
— Former ClientPress
Georgia Recorder: LGBTQ-friendly resources, policies recede on Georgia’s college campuses as DEI rollbacks continue
August 18, 2025
At some schools, students and groups have stepped in to fill the void
Canceled pride graduation celebrations. Eliminated resource centers for LGBTQ students. Tighter rules for using a preferred name on class rosters and student IDs. These are some of the casualties on Georgia college campuses as a national push to erase DEI initiatives and programs takes hold.
University System of Georgia schools across the state have adopted a variety of changes in response to a flurry of federal orders from the Trump administration. Republican state lawmakers have also pursued a ban on DEI programs and policies in Georgia’s public schools and universities. Read more...
WABE: Metro Atlanta nonprofit hosts legal name change clinics amid LGBTQ+ Political climate
June 30, 2025
On Peachtree Street, a grey 40-story skyscraper called the Promenade Tower overlooks several other buildings on the block.
Inside, white navigation signs with red arrows lead to a fancy touchscreen elevator where a legal name change clinic is welcoming a few clients.
The event’s host is the Southern Legal Center for Youth, or SLCY. The College Park, Georgia, nonprofit is hoping to make the lives of queer and trans young adults a little easier as the state and federal governments adopt anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
“It’s just something small that we could do that has a big impact in our young people’s lives,” said Liz Harding Chao, the founder of SLCY, who identifies as queer and genderfluid. Read more...