COLUMBUS — Jennifer Bicknell and BeLinda Priddy of Hamilton can change their last names to Rylen now, thanks to an Ohio Supreme Court decision hailed Wednesday as a victory for gay rights.

Jennifer Bicknell and BeLinda Priddy

        The high court's 6-1 ruling simply states that no Ohio court can deny a reasonable request to change a person's name, unless that person is trying to escape arrest or debt. The decision also sends a broader message: that judges cannot consider sexual preference or lifestyle when someone wants to change his or her own name.

        Ms. Bicknell said she and Ms. Priddy never imagined their plan to change their last names to match those of their children would turn into an unprecedented two-year court battle drawing national attention from conservative and civil rights groups.

        She said she was happy to finally be able to change her name and added she's pleased other same-sex couples who want to change their names won't run into similar problems in Ohio. “We just got so mad at being denied something like this,” Ms. Bicknell said. “It's a basic right to be called whatever you want.”

        The two, who have been together for 12 years, asked to change their last names in January 2000, after deciding to have children by artificial insemination. The name they chose, Rylen, is a combination of some of the letters in their original last names.

        Butler County Magistrate Charles Pater denied their request, ruling it was contrary to common law, natural law and “divine edict.” Probate Judge Randy Rogers later concluded the name change would give “an aura of propriety and official sanction to their cohabitation.”

        A state appeals court also ruled against the couple 2-1, saying Ohio law “favors solemnized marriages and that cohabitation contravenes this policy.” A conservative Christian group, the American Family Association of Ohio, argued before the Ohio Supreme Court that gay partners who take the same last name skirt a state law the forbids legal recognition of same-sex and common law marriages.

        Justice Alice Robie Resnick, writing for the majority, rejected those decisions and arguments as irrelevant. The only legal test that matters, she wrote, is whether a person has a good reason and nothing to hide. “(Ms. Bicknell and Ms. Priddy) are not attempting to evade creditors or to create the appearance of a state-sanctioned marriage,” Justice Resnick wrote.

        “Any discussion, then, on the sanctity of marriage, the well being of society, or the state's endorsement of nonmarital cohabitation is wholly inappropriate and without any basis in law or fact,” she concluded.

        Evelyn Lundberg Stratton was the only justice to disagree, saying the court's position runs contrary to the state's policy against same-sex marriage. She also wrote that the issue “is a social policy decision that should clearly be made by the General Assembly.” Justice Stratton is running for reelection this November against Democratic Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Janet Burnside.

        David Langdon, Cincinnati attorney for the American Family Association, said the decision sends a troubling message about marriage in Ohio. “In essence, the court is putting its stamp of approval on this type of family relationship, which the General Assembly doesn't recognize,” he said.

        Jillian Davis, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said the court recognized everyone has a right to change his or her name, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual.

        “The American Family Association chose to politicize this and make it a gay issue, and it's not,” Ms. Davis said.

        Whatever the message may be, some argue it didn't need to be sent at all. Attorney Scott Knox of Cincinnati, who represented the couple, said he personally has helped at least a dozen same-sex couples change their last names in Ohio with no trouble or objection.

        Mr. Knox said the couple was unlucky in that a series of judges were troubled by the social implications “of two women raising a child together.”

        Ms. Bicknell said she's now looking forward to changing her last name at the bank and driver's license bureau once Butler County courts give her the papers she needs.

        Ms. Bicknell gave birth to three children in November. Daughter Lindsay Rylen and son Kyle Rylen died following complications of their premature births. But daughter Sarah Rylen is healthy and doing well, Ms. Bicknell reported.

        “This has nothing to do with gay marriage. We wanted to raise our kids the best way we could,” Ms. Bicknell said. “This is such an important part of it, that we have the same last names as our children.”

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