Change of name or gender and sex identifier.

Senator Wiener advances a privacy-forward reform that broadens confidentiality for court records in name-change and gender-marker-change proceedings, extends protections to all petitioners rather than solely minors, and creates a private-right enforcement framework to address disclosures of confidential information. The measure aims to align confidentiality with privacy and safety concerns raised by transgender and nonbinary individuals, while codifying a court-records framework that accompanies related protections already in place for minors.

Key mechanisms establish that records involved in a proceeding to change a name or gender and sex identifier, or both, shall be kept confidential. Access before a court orders a change is limited to the petitioner, others who signed the petition, individuals subject to an order to show cause, attorneys, and their agents; after a court orders the change, access is limited to the petitioner, any minor or adult involved, the adult signers, attorneys, and their agents. The confidentiality requirements apply to petitions filed on or after July 1, 2026, to petitions filed before that date if a confidential-records request is made (ex parte and without a filing fee), or to records already made confidential by statute or otherwise. The bill also prohibits private entities from publicly posting confidential records and provides that violations constitute an injury, with enforcement tools including injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or writs of mandate commencing six months after enactment, and a civil action for harms beginning six months after enactment. Damages include at least $5,000 in statutory damages, actual damages, punitive damages for willful or reckless disregard, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs; the Judicial Council must develop implementing forms and rules by July 1, 2026.

Implementation and governance are anchored by a linkage to existing sealing mechanisms and privacy norms: courts may seal records under California Rule of Court 2.550, and the bill reaffirms that whether a transgender person’s gender identity conforms with birth sex is intimate information protected by privacy rights. The act repeals and replaces an existing confidentiality provision with a broader, unified Section 103437 that ties confidentiality to multiple statutory pathways for name and gender changes and to proceedings under CCP Title 8. It includes severability, urgency, and constitutional-findings provisions to justify immediate effect, and directs the Judicial Council to develop necessary forms and rules to operationalize the framework within a defined timeline.

Context and policy rationale emphasize protecting transgender and nonbinary individuals from harassment and privacy violations, drawing on findings about hate crimes, victimization, and online exposure. The measure references related privacy adaptations for minors and a court decision recognizing the sealing interest in such records, with the intent to extend robust privacy protections to all petitioners at risk of disclosure. The framework contemplates transitional timing, potential impacts on court operations and private-sector compliance, and questions that may require guidance through implementation rules, training, and system updates as part of broader privacy and records regimes.