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Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB4370

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4370

Introduced 1/14/2026, by Rep. Anne Stava

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

735 ILCS 5/21-107 new

Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Creates a process for a petition
for change of name on the basis of gender identity. Makes all of the
proceedings and records confidential unless the petitioner waives
otherwise. Makes limited exceptions to the confidentiality requirement.
Creates a cause of action for knowingly violating the confidentiality
provisions. Defines terms. Makes other changes.
LRB104 16897 JRC 30308 b

A BILL FOR

HB4370
LRB104 16897 JRC 30308 b
1

AN ACT concerning civil law.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 5.
The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
5
adding Section 21-107 as follows:

6

(735 ILCS 5/21-107 new)
7

Sec. 21-107.
Gender-related identity.
8

(a) Transgender people are experiencing a growing epidemic
9
of discrimination, harassment, and violence across the
10
country. Whether a transgender person's gender identity
11
conforms with the person's assigned sex at birth is intimate
12
personal information entitled to protection under the right to
13
privacy. A transgender person has a privacy interest in
14
concealing the person's transgender identity.
15

(b) As used in this Act:
16

"Transgender" means a person whose gender identity is
17
different from the gender assigned at birth.
18

"Gender identity" means a person's deeply felt, inherent
19
sense of who the person is as a particular gender, such as
20
female.
21

(c) If a petition is filed alleging that the requested
22
name change is on the basis of gender identity, all court
23
records filed under this Section are confidential and may not

HB4370
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LRB104 16897 JRC 30308 b
1
be accessed by anyone other than the petitioner, an attorney
2
representing the petitioner, and any agents acting under
3
written authorization from those individuals or their
4
attorneys. For a petition brought on behalf of a minor, the
5
court shall limit access to the minor who is the subject of the
6
petition, the minor's parents, guardians, and guardians ad
7
litem, an attorney representing those individuals, and any
8
agents acting under a written authorization from those
9
individuals or their attorneys.
10

(d) The court must order that the records in the
11
proceeding be kept confidential unless the petitioner waives
12
that right. If the petitioner in a proceeding for a name change
13
on the basis of gender identity was filed before the effective
14
date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly
15
seeks confidentiality under this Section, the court shall
16
enter such an order. The petitioner may make this request ex
17
parte and without paying a filing fee. The court shall make the
18
request and all associated records confidential.
19

(e) If the petitioner discovers that court records in
20
these proceedings are not being kept confidential as required
21
under this Section, the petitioner may apply ex parte for that
22
order without paying a filing fee, and the court shall enter an
23
order making the records confidential. The court shall make
24
the request and all associated records confidential.
25

(f) Other than the petitioner, a person or private entity
26
may not publicly post a confidential record under this Section

HB4370
- 3 -
LRB104 16897 JRC 30308 b
1
on the Internet or otherwise.
2

(g) Any violation of this Section is deemed to cause
3
injury to the petitioner, including, but not limited to,
4
emotional distress. A petitioner who has been harmed by a
5
disclosure or continuing disclosure of records by a person or
6
private entity with actual knowledge that those records were
7
confidential or sealed by the court may bring a civil action
8
against a person or private entity that caused the harm. A
9
civil action under this Section may be brought by a petitioner
10
or, if the petitioner is a minor, on behalf of a petitioner by
11
the petitioner's parent, guardian, or guardian ad litem.
12

(h) If a person or private entity is found liable in an
13
action brought under this Section, that person or private
14
entity is liable to the petitioner for all of the following:
15

(1) actual damages that may not be less than $5,000;
16

(2) punitive damages; and
17

(3) reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
18

(i) The Supreme Court may issue rules to implement this
19
Section. The petition to be used under this Section shall be a
20
statewide standardized form approved by the Supreme Court and
21
set forth the name then held, the name sought to be assumed,
22
the residence of the petitioner, the length of time the
23
petitioner has resided in this State, and the state or country
24
of the petitioner's birth.
25

(j) If the petition is filed under this Section on behalf
26
of a minor, the notice provisions of Section 21-103.5 apply,

HB4370
- 4 -
LRB104 16897 JRC 30308 b
1
but the notice must contain a disclosure that proceedings
2
under this Section are confidential in a form approved by the
3
Supreme Court.
4

(k) Nothing in this Section precludes a court from
5
granting a motion to seal all court records under this Section
6
of a person's change of name on the basis of gender identity.

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