Same sex couples in Missouri will now be able to change or hyphenate their names at Social Security offices across the state. Governor Jay Nixon is requiring the Social Security Administration to accept same sex marriage licenses as documentation for name changes. PROMO, a LGBTQ advocacy group was instrumental in the change.
“We really worked closely with Governor Jay Nixon’s office as well as his administration in order to get couples’ last names changed,” Field Organizer Kirstin Palovick said.
Palovick said PROMO received about 90 complaints from couples. The complaints said the Social Security offices did not accept their license as proof for a name change. The complaints were not consistent, according to Palovick. The decision on whether to accept the marriage license depended upon the state and county that the couple was married in, the date the license was issued, and the particular social security office.
Palovick said PROMO passed those complaints on to Nixon’s office. Nixon included this requirement for the Social Security Administration in his executive order 15-04 which allowed same sex marriage and protected same sex couples.
Palovick says that this requirement gives same sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.
“That’s one of the really important components is just couples being treated equally to one another which is why it was so important that the social security administration allow same sex couples to change their last names,” Palovick said.