Top Chicago Illinois Lawyers

For the 15 years that they had been in a committed relationship, Brenda Link had wanted to take her partner Lisa’s last name.

In August, it finally happened.

“It was a joyous occasion,” said Brenda Link. “I’m glad that I can sign things and people know we are together and we are a couple.”

Since civil unions became legal in Illinois on June 1, many same-sex couples have taken advantage of the other opportunity the new law created: the ability to walk into a Driver Services Department or Social Security office — rather than a courtroom — to legally take a partner’s name.

Although no one keeps track of name changes specifically related to civil unions, the number of people who sought name changes on their Illinois driver’s licenses from June 1 to Oct. 31 was up to 54,809, compared with 51,707 in the same period two years ago, according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s Department of Driver Services.

And officials at Equality Illinois, a nonprofit advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Illinois, say they have no doubt same-sex couples have fueled the increase.

“It’s definitely something that people are doing,” said Carolyn Staerk, field director for Equality Illinois, who helped to create a how-to guide for changing names after civil unions in response to an influx of inquiries.

For some same-sex couples, reasons for taking a partner’s name are ironically similar to why some women have resisted taking a partner’s name since the women’s movement of the 1970s: It’s about embracing your own identity.

“I kind of felt like we can’t be ignored anymore,” said Lisa Link, who, months later, still beams at the thought of Brenda Link taking her last name. “I never thought how proud I would be to have my wife have my name.”

In other civil unions, the act of taking a partner’s name allows for more traditional values. When Henry Needham Jr. suggested taking the last name of his partner, Trung Tieu, a few weeks after their August civil union ceremony, they looked forward to being viewed as a cohesive unit.
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