I feel like you’re being a bit obtuse, use in the sense of what she’s running under. The headline and tenor of all this is trying to mislead folks into the narrative that she is being forced to run and be identified according to her dead-name or whatever.
That’s all, no need to continue this line of inquiry
It literally is requiring her to be identified by her deadname. Which is why “use” is the correct term. It actually is meaningful, even if you don’t realize that it is. It’s not just a technicality.
No it isn’t. I had to disclose my prior name when registering to vote, for my passport and driving license applications, and for my working with children check.
That’s using your name. You had to use your name to do those things. You can say it’s fine. But understanding that you’re using that name might help you understand one of the difficulties of being trans.
I’m not trying to be difficult or win an argument or anything. This is just a real example of how a trans person has to deal with being deadnamed.
Yeah, this is an interesting case, the public has a legitimate interest to know the previous identity of a candidate, and the candidate has a legitimate interest in disassociating with their previous identity.
Thankfully Americans are known to approach such cases with compassion and nuance, surely.
I’m probably speaking out of turn here, but reporting a previous name is a simple matter of security, not deadnaming. I’m not trans, but I use my stepfather’s surname and changed to that legally when I was 18. If someone called me by my mom’s abuser’s name to my face I would be distraught, but when forms ask me for prior legal names I just list it and it’s not a big deal. It’s just an identity thing.
The form isn’t asking “what’s your real name?” it’s asking “have you ever been known by any other legal names?”
It really is not what you are saying it is. You have to disclose it, not use it, because otherwise it’s an easy way to evade any background checks. No one except the recipient of your application is going to see it; using a name is not the same as disclosing it. Using it means it is employed in a manner which people will identify you as, this is not the case here.
