NCLR and Joshua Langdon represented three transgender youth and their families in a lawsuit against Warren County Judge Joseph Kirby. The complaint alleged that Judge Kirby violated the United States Constitution by denying name changes to transgender youth based on his biases about transgender people.

Judge Kirby moved to dismiss the case. On October 29, 2018, the District Court held that Judge Kirby could not be sued for exercising his judicial discretion in denying name changes to transgender youth.

In addition to filing this lawsuit, the Whitakers appealed the denial of their son’s name change. The Ohio Court of Appeals reversed Judge Kirby’s denial and ordered that he grant the name change.