Chatroom precedent (Nova Roma)

After the resignation of Flavius Vedius, a controversy arose over the status of 'transgendered' citizens and the use of masculine and feminine names by members of the opposite sex. A citizen, Lucia Maria Fimbria, applied to Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, the sole remaining censor, to have her name officially changed to her chatroom alias, Lucius Marius Fimbria. Her request was denied. Sulla Felix's decision to deny his close friend this request was not an easy one. It was based on many factors, including the precedent set by the previous censors, namely myself and Flavius Vedius Germanicus.

Last year, while censors, Flavius Vedius Germanicus and I were approached by a citizen who desired a name change inconsistent with that citizen's physical gender. We were given a large amount of information to consider, both of a personal nature and information about names themselves. It was a busy time in Nova Roma, right after the end of the dictatorship. However, we gave the request speedy attention. After individually reviewing the information, Germanicus and I spoke on the phone and agreed to deny the name change. Our reason was simple: such name changes (inconsistent with one's physical gender) too closely resemble gaming personas. Nova Roma is not a role playing game, contrary to what some might believe. If we have pretensions to being a real nation we should act like one. As such, we must act according to physical reality, namely in this case one's physical sex or gender. That is all we can judge. We are not in a position to judge how one feels internally.

Not long after, the citizen in question appealed to us to review her petition in a "live" setting. At the citizen's request we heard the appeal in the forum chatroom. We three chatted for about an hour. The citizen presented information, we listened and asked questions and answered questions in turn. After conferring privately, we decided to let the ruling stand upon the original reasons given.

Prior to being elected as Censor of Nova Roma, a particular citizen--at the time a close friend--and I discussed this issue. I told her personally I didn't have a problem with her name change, due to the fact that since I first met her, I always referred to her by her masculine chatroom persona. Once elected Censor, I had a phone conversation with my colleague, Flavius Vedius Germancius [sic]. I broached the subject with him and he informed me that he would not favor the change and explained to me his reasoning. I therefore informed my friend that it would not be done during the Censorship of Germancius [sic] and she would have to wait. Well, on March 1, my colleague resigned his position. That very day, I received an e-mail from my friend asking for her name change. Once I received that e-mail I took it as her petition and immediately began investigating the possibility.

During a two to three week period, I investigated numerous websites, went to the Los Angeles County Law Library and investigated 4 other macronational countries for their dealings with transgendered issues and their internal procedures. While I was investigating these sources I also contacted the previous Censor Decius Iunius Palladius Invictus. As a result of my ongoing investigation to this, I uncovered that Transgendered individuals are not a protected class in the United States, therefore they had no special protections under Civil Rights Legislation (1964 or 1991 or under Title VII or IX) or under the American Disabilities Act. The other nations that I investigated had similar policies, or more precisely, a similar lack of policies. While there are currently efforts to try to make 'alternative genders' a protected group, to date that has [not?] been accomplished. Given the results of my research I upheld the ruling of the previous Censors. During my conversation with Decius Iunius Palladius Invictus, I discovered that the previous Censors of Nova Roma were originally petitioned by the aforementioned citizen. They rejected her request, thereby setting a magisterial precedent.