The New Jersey Appellate Division ordered the lower court to seal the record to protect the appellant from discrimination and violence. A.B.C.-C. is a transgender man who sought to change his name to conform his identification documents with his gender identity. As part of his application, the appellant submitted evidence showing transgender people are subject to a particularized threat to their safety based upon their identity and asked that the record of his name change be sealed to protect him. The lower court denied the request. The Appellate Division reversed and ruled that the appellant demonstrated good cause to seal the record.
