True- I always thought if I got married I definitely would have hyphenated it at most- not crazy about giving up my family name, unlike some friends . Well, I guess being a "childless cat lady" by choice, (though I have no cats) has a perk since my name matches my birth certificate,, but it sucks for the other women that married and gave up their names. Just an attempt to rig the vote against Democrats who are heavily female supported.
It is not just women who changed their maiden names for married names,. I just posted yesterday how the name I have my entire history under, social security,education, entire work (& tax) records , medical records, driving records under lacks one letter that is on my birth certificate and the only correction possible (I have been informed) is to give up my entire identity and apply for a new soc sec number under the spelling of the first name on the birth certificate. Of course, in the process, I lose my social security I live on; I lose my degree from university; I lose my medical records because I am now told my life was not a real life.
p.s. As it now stands, a woman in Nevada who changed her maiden only needs to show a marriage license to prove any name discrepancy from the birth certificate. This is the Real ID law. I am yet unaware if the Save Act will alter that.
Probably some dumb clerk messed up your birth certificate years ago & now with all the stuff that has gone down since then with all the Republican ID stuff has made it a major factor for you than it would have been decades ago! I really feel for you & your situation.
With regard to the SAVE Act, I think you are misrepresenting the facts. With regard to women changing their last name when they marry, it’s a matter of “tradition”. And there are many traditions in various cultures that people can embrace if they choose. I respect all cultures and try my best to learn from something from each that I have the opportunity to encounter.
NO, the SAVE Act does require proof of name changes if they don't match a birth certificate which DOES affect many married women (not me because I am a "childless cat lady"- though without cats" or trans people etc. any one that has changed their name etc. It is meant to make it difficult for women , esp. poorer women to vote. More women vote Democratic than men so it is trying to rig the election in Republican favor. There are some other provisions to that act too that make voting more inconvenient like with mail-in ballots , polling places etc. too.
I acknowledge it would present extra effort for women that take their husband’s last name after marriage to vote. However, I believe the intent is not to make it more difficult for women. I think the intent is to restore faith and fairness in our federal elections. Is there another proposal for proof of citizenship to consider? Does it matter that we only allow citizens to vote in our federal elections?
I’m surprised four Dems voted in support of the SAVE Act. Can you tell me how to find out how each representative voted? We need to flood their zones with calls and pressure Senators not to pass it. Whereas I used to trust Susan Collin’s and Murkowski to be on the side of women I can’t any longer. Bannon was on the Bill Maher show and emphatically stated Trump WILL BE PRESIDENT IN 2029. Third term not a problem.
Was Bannon drunk as usual ? He shouldn't be given any platform. HOWEVER, even trying to push tRump through as V.P. would be invalidated by the 12th. amendment- no one can be V.P. that can't qualify as President which no two term President (no matter how he served those terms) can qualify for President again - PERIOD- which is why that one Republican rep introduced that bill in Congress awhile back which didn't go forward. That bill tried to make it OK if the President served non-consecutive terms- like that should matter- because they are afraid of the Dems running Obama again then. Looked at a match up between the two recently & Obama came out ahead. Of course those people love creating chaos & Constitutional crisises! There is no "wiggle room or loopholes" in the 22nd. Amendment no matter what Bannon pontificates.
I hear you but they don’t need wiggle room. Or loopholes. I am sure They have illegal plans to push forward. Laws haven’t stopped them yet but thankfully the federal courts seem to be waking up!
So here’s what I did today. I called my representative’s office (using 5 Calls). I got a live person. I told him I had a question, and needed a response.
I asked him to tell me the precise steps I would need to follow to change the name on my birth certificate to my married name. And asked him why I should have to, when I have been using my married name legally for 43 years,and have no need to spend $160 for a passport.
He had to look up the text of the law. He told me it would be decided by each state separately. So, I asked him what, specifically, I would have to do in Texas?
What if my employer won’t let me take time off to deal with this?
After going a couple more round with him, he told me I would just need to show my drivers license. (Not sure he’s right about that. )
So, I told him, that’s exactly what I have to do now. Why would the house of reps feel the need to waste time and taxpayer money to pass a law that we obviously don’t need in the first place?
My point in all of this is:
Call your Senators and Reps, and MAKE THEM ANSWER TO YOU!
Even if it’s just an aide, make them answer your questions.
Reps are up for election every TWO years. Tell them how unhappy you are, and how dissatisfied you are with them. Tell them your friends and family are unhappy too.
I first became aware of this Real ID law in 2022 when I needed to renew my identity. Since my name did not match my birth certificate, my ID says "This identity can not be used for identification". Posted in the upper right corner. What is the use of an identification card that you cannot use for identification?
Your congressman told you a big fib. Or he doesn't know the laws himself (and I hope this won't be any surprise to you,but many congresspersons don't know the provisions even in the laws they vote for).
Finally if you don't already have a passport under your married name, the real ID law means you can't get a passport under any name but your birth name anyway so you'll be wasting your $160. I checked out that root as well. I do have a passport under my (un)Real name that is expired but because of the name discrepancy am not permitted to renew it.
To be fair, it was his aide. And he seemed rattled that someone was asking questions. I thought he was fibbing just to get rid of me.
I do have a passport, thank goodness. I don’t know how long your passport has been expired, but I think you have five years to get it renewed after it expires.
I didn’t know about Real ID until last week when I got my license renewal notice last week. So now I have to make an appointment, go in, and justify my existence. UGH.
They overturned Roe to force more babies. Demand for vasectomies and tubal ligations skyrocketed. Safe bet at least a few might have had children later if they hadn’t been forced into sterility to avoid unwanted pregnancies. Net loss for “more babies” contingent.
Same thing here. Fewer women will take their husband’s name, another “conservative value” shot down by conservative bungling.
We should probably be glad they’re so stupid and incompetent.
I knew before getting married I would hyphenate my name. I felt that keeping my maiden is connection to my family, but most of all to prove who I was by birth certificate.
Thankfully growing up Dad kept my siblings and I birth certificates & passports till we became young adults. He knew that someday we would need to have them with us.
Growing up in religious and caribbean home it was taught you take on your husband name as sign of “ being his family now/submissive”
I had the discussion with my husband when we’re engaged at the time. He was ok with it with me keeping my maiden name and all he asked was that his name was added too.
No one ever challenged DT about his declaration "Make America Great Again." I really wish President Biden and VP Harris had grilled him about this horrific dog whistle during their debates. My prayer is that the SAVE ACT (misnomer, big time) FAILS in the Senate. Great article, Sir.
I'm not married myself, but I've given some thought to people changing their names. Just the practical things like having to add a surname or replace it. Too much work in my opinion. And those that add a surname, do they think about if they get children. The children will have 2 last names and when they one day marry another. Will there be 3 surnames? Hollywood couples have the right idea in my opinion. they keep their names and give their children the surname of one of them.
Well Spanish speaking people as a tradition name their children both parents surnames like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez however it would be slightly different for her children, Cortez plus whatever her spouse's name is. It is a nice tradition showing both families, sometimespeople of Irish descent (like in my family) do this using the mother's surname as a middle name.
These crazy people want to go backwards QR. They fear women. They don’t respect women. They do not want any women voting. Then they will allow only certain men to vote. Then, there will no voting for anyone. Today, they openly defied the judicial branch! The time has arrived QR. They laugh as they threaten every American to be sent to a concentration camp/prison. They are Nazis! But they forget one thing. We have shown what we do to Nazis. We will do it again!!!
Here in Maine we are stuck with 2 sorry excuses of “representatives” who represent themselves … not their constituents. It’s so revealing … Maine with 1.3M people has 2 reps who are anti-American. Way too much power for 1.3M people.
Which is weird if you think about it as I would assume it’s MAGA men who want their wives to take their name. Keeping your name and refusing your husband’s is very progressive and left leaning.
The tell take sign is: are MAGA women fighting this?
If not, then the analysis by another SS here is true: they want to get back to à vote per family, cast by the man only.
So if MAGA women are silent, they want a family vote and they are betraying other women.
I changed my name back to my maiden name after the divorce. Never should've changed in the first place, it was much longer. My kids didn't have an identity crisis over it, but the tradition in the US is extremely pervasive. I remember older women in the 80s signing their names as Mrs. His name. No identity whatsoever of her own. MAGA is slowly trying to take back all of women's rights. Our mothers fought for these rights. We can't give in.
True- I always thought if I got married I definitely would have hyphenated it at most- not crazy about giving up my family name, unlike some friends . Well, I guess being a "childless cat lady" by choice, (though I have no cats) has a perk since my name matches my birth certificate,, but it sucks for the other women that married and gave up their names. Just an attempt to rig the vote against Democrats who are heavily female supported.
It is not just women who changed their maiden names for married names,. I just posted yesterday how the name I have my entire history under, social security,education, entire work (& tax) records , medical records, driving records under lacks one letter that is on my birth certificate and the only correction possible (I have been informed) is to give up my entire identity and apply for a new soc sec number under the spelling of the first name on the birth certificate. Of course, in the process, I lose my social security I live on; I lose my degree from university; I lose my medical records because I am now told my life was not a real life.
p.s. As it now stands, a woman in Nevada who changed her maiden only needs to show a marriage license to prove any name discrepancy from the birth certificate. This is the Real ID law. I am yet unaware if the Save Act will alter that.
Probably some dumb clerk messed up your birth certificate years ago & now with all the stuff that has gone down since then with all the Republican ID stuff has made it a major factor for you than it would have been decades ago! I really feel for you & your situation.
With regard to the SAVE Act, I think you are misrepresenting the facts. With regard to women changing their last name when they marry, it’s a matter of “tradition”. And there are many traditions in various cultures that people can embrace if they choose. I respect all cultures and try my best to learn from something from each that I have the opportunity to encounter.
NO, the SAVE Act does require proof of name changes if they don't match a birth certificate which DOES affect many married women (not me because I am a "childless cat lady"- though without cats" or trans people etc. any one that has changed their name etc. It is meant to make it difficult for women , esp. poorer women to vote. More women vote Democratic than men so it is trying to rig the election in Republican favor. There are some other provisions to that act too that make voting more inconvenient like with mail-in ballots , polling places etc. too.
I acknowledge it would present extra effort for women that take their husband’s last name after marriage to vote. However, I believe the intent is not to make it more difficult for women. I think the intent is to restore faith and fairness in our federal elections. Is there another proposal for proof of citizenship to consider? Does it matter that we only allow citizens to vote in our federal elections?
I’m surprised four Dems voted in support of the SAVE Act. Can you tell me how to find out how each representative voted? We need to flood their zones with calls and pressure Senators not to pass it. Whereas I used to trust Susan Collin’s and Murkowski to be on the side of women I can’t any longer. Bannon was on the Bill Maher show and emphatically stated Trump WILL BE PRESIDENT IN 2029. Third term not a problem.
What a shit show. We have to squash it.
Congress.gov or The Legaue of Women voters has voting records
Was Bannon drunk as usual ? He shouldn't be given any platform. HOWEVER, even trying to push tRump through as V.P. would be invalidated by the 12th. amendment- no one can be V.P. that can't qualify as President which no two term President (no matter how he served those terms) can qualify for President again - PERIOD- which is why that one Republican rep introduced that bill in Congress awhile back which didn't go forward. That bill tried to make it OK if the President served non-consecutive terms- like that should matter- because they are afraid of the Dems running Obama again then. Looked at a match up between the two recently & Obama came out ahead. Of course those people love creating chaos & Constitutional crisises! There is no "wiggle room or loopholes" in the 22nd. Amendment no matter what Bannon pontificates.
I hear you but they don’t need wiggle room. Or loopholes. I am sure They have illegal plans to push forward. Laws haven’t stopped them yet but thankfully the federal courts seem to be waking up!
Lol! Maybe he was drunk!
So here’s what I did today. I called my representative’s office (using 5 Calls). I got a live person. I told him I had a question, and needed a response.
I asked him to tell me the precise steps I would need to follow to change the name on my birth certificate to my married name. And asked him why I should have to, when I have been using my married name legally for 43 years,and have no need to spend $160 for a passport.
He had to look up the text of the law. He told me it would be decided by each state separately. So, I asked him what, specifically, I would have to do in Texas?
What if my employer won’t let me take time off to deal with this?
After going a couple more round with him, he told me I would just need to show my drivers license. (Not sure he’s right about that. )
So, I told him, that’s exactly what I have to do now. Why would the house of reps feel the need to waste time and taxpayer money to pass a law that we obviously don’t need in the first place?
My point in all of this is:
Call your Senators and Reps, and MAKE THEM ANSWER TO YOU!
Even if it’s just an aide, make them answer your questions.
Reps are up for election every TWO years. Tell them how unhappy you are, and how dissatisfied you are with them. Tell them your friends and family are unhappy too.
Use 5Calls.
Keep up the pressure!
I first became aware of this Real ID law in 2022 when I needed to renew my identity. Since my name did not match my birth certificate, my ID says "This identity can not be used for identification". Posted in the upper right corner. What is the use of an identification card that you cannot use for identification?
Your congressman told you a big fib. Or he doesn't know the laws himself (and I hope this won't be any surprise to you,but many congresspersons don't know the provisions even in the laws they vote for).
Finally if you don't already have a passport under your married name, the real ID law means you can't get a passport under any name but your birth name anyway so you'll be wasting your $160. I checked out that root as well. I do have a passport under my (un)Real name that is expired but because of the name discrepancy am not permitted to renew it.
To be fair, it was his aide. And he seemed rattled that someone was asking questions. I thought he was fibbing just to get rid of me.
I do have a passport, thank goodness. I don’t know how long your passport has been expired, but I think you have five years to get it renewed after it expires.
I didn’t know about Real ID until last week when I got my license renewal notice last week. So now I have to make an appointment, go in, and justify my existence. UGH.
ps---my passport has been expired for 35 years.
Like so much overreach, this will backfire.
They overturned Roe to force more babies. Demand for vasectomies and tubal ligations skyrocketed. Safe bet at least a few might have had children later if they hadn’t been forced into sterility to avoid unwanted pregnancies. Net loss for “more babies” contingent.
Same thing here. Fewer women will take their husband’s name, another “conservative value” shot down by conservative bungling.
We should probably be glad they’re so stupid and incompetent.
I was thinking the same thing ! Basically their incompetence keeps "shooting themselves in the foot" so to say.
I knew before getting married I would hyphenate my name. I felt that keeping my maiden is connection to my family, but most of all to prove who I was by birth certificate.
Thankfully growing up Dad kept my siblings and I birth certificates & passports till we became young adults. He knew that someday we would need to have them with us.
Growing up in religious and caribbean home it was taught you take on your husband name as sign of “ being his family now/submissive”
I had the discussion with my husband when we’re engaged at the time. He was ok with it with me keeping my maiden name and all he asked was that his name was added too.
No one ever challenged DT about his declaration "Make America Great Again." I really wish President Biden and VP Harris had grilled him about this horrific dog whistle during their debates. My prayer is that the SAVE ACT (misnomer, big time) FAILS in the Senate. Great article, Sir.
I'm not married myself, but I've given some thought to people changing their names. Just the practical things like having to add a surname or replace it. Too much work in my opinion. And those that add a surname, do they think about if they get children. The children will have 2 last names and when they one day marry another. Will there be 3 surnames? Hollywood couples have the right idea in my opinion. they keep their names and give their children the surname of one of them.
Well Spanish speaking people as a tradition name their children both parents surnames like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez however it would be slightly different for her children, Cortez plus whatever her spouse's name is. It is a nice tradition showing both families, sometimespeople of Irish descent (like in my family) do this using the mother's surname as a middle name.
These crazy people want to go backwards QR. They fear women. They don’t respect women. They do not want any women voting. Then they will allow only certain men to vote. Then, there will no voting for anyone. Today, they openly defied the judicial branch! The time has arrived QR. They laugh as they threaten every American to be sent to a concentration camp/prison. They are Nazis! But they forget one thing. We have shown what we do to Nazis. We will do it again!!!
Here in Maine we are stuck with 2 sorry excuses of “representatives” who represent themselves … not their constituents. It’s so revealing … Maine with 1.3M people has 2 reps who are anti-American. Way too much power for 1.3M people.
Better be paying attention … it’s not business as usual …
Which is weird if you think about it as I would assume it’s MAGA men who want their wives to take their name. Keeping your name and refusing your husband’s is very progressive and left leaning.
The tell take sign is: are MAGA women fighting this?
If not, then the analysis by another SS here is true: they want to get back to à vote per family, cast by the man only.
So if MAGA women are silent, they want a family vote and they are betraying other women.
Well, when have MAGA women not betrayed other women? It's their MO.
It's not her "maiden name", it's her *name*.
Well said. But, please edit to note that your brilliant wife retained her BIRTH name, not her “maiden” name.
My wife drives a minivan, not a car.
You’re going to have to explain that comment. This 71+ year old is too thick to understand.
I changed my name back to my maiden name after the divorce. Never should've changed in the first place, it was much longer. My kids didn't have an identity crisis over it, but the tradition in the US is extremely pervasive. I remember older women in the 80s signing their names as Mrs. His name. No identity whatsoever of her own. MAGA is slowly trying to take back all of women's rights. Our mothers fought for these rights. We can't give in.