I’m probably speaking out of turn here, but reporting a previous name is a simple matter of security, not deadnaming. I’m not trans, but I use my stepfather’s surname and changed to that legally when I was 18. If someone called me by my mom’s abuser’s name to my face I would be distraught, but when forms ask me for prior legal names I just list it and it’s not a big deal. It’s just an identity thing.
The form isn’t asking “what’s your real name?” it’s asking “have you ever been known by any other legal names?”
I’m probably speaking out of turn here, but reporting a previous name is a simple matter of security, not deadnaming. I’m not trans, but I use my stepfather’s surname and changed to that legally when I was 18. If someone called me by my mom’s abuser’s name to my face I would be distraught, but when forms ask me for prior legal names I just list it and it’s not a big deal. It’s just an identity thing.
The form isn’t asking “what’s your real name?” it’s asking “have you ever been known by any other legal names?”
I think it’s reasonable that you need to use your previous name to help identify you for security purposes. I’m not really arguing against that.
But at the same time, if you did have a problem with using it at all because you had completely disassociated with it, I would understand that too.
A lot of people seem to be deeply offended by a modicum of empathy though.