Dusty Weber LaMay

The Project

Dusty worked to solve the burdens placed upon rural transgender people to meet their own legal needs. The Trans Advocacy in Rural Places (TARP) built resiliency in rural transgender communities of Washington through improving legal support services for their civil rights, educating the public, and increasing trans community capacity to self-represent.

TARP eliminated the gaps left in legal services for transgender people due to the resource isolation which results from geographical isolation. At TARP events, community members come together to work with a trans legal professional to learn about their legal rights, to dispel fears resulting from legal oppression, and to bolster community strength through building knowledge and skills for legal self-sufficiency. TARP also improved legal support services for rural trans folks through training on the ground local rural legal and court professionals in trans competent services and by fostering a network of trans sensitive rural legal providers in as many counties as possible.

 Fellowship Plans

During the Fellowship period, Dusty:

• Expanded access to the name change, gender change, and identity informed estate related legal help for rural trans people statewide through hosting more than 35 ID clinics or estate workshops 
• Helped over 300 rural LGBTQ+ people build the self help legal skills to be more resilient while navigating burdensome identity document or estate related legal processes
• Hosted consistent trans centered legal help ID clinics statewide in multiple counties and regions with at least two monthly clinics hosted regularly in opposite sides of the state
• Provided direct limited legal or in-depth issue assistance to over 170 community members
• Served trans people or trained professionals in trans sensitive services in 27 counties across WA
• Grew visibility and reach for rural trans issues through online document bank and model guides

Next Steps

Dusty continues to assist rural transgender and gender diverse folks to meet their pro-se civil legal needs for changing their name and genders, as well as for creating identity honoring DIY estate forms. Dusty is also working to distribute gender change Judicial bench guide to state Superior Courts and propose state law change.

Media