It was a story that struck a chord with Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.  An L.A. area man wanted to take his wife’s last name.  To do so, he had to file a petition, pay more than 300 dollars, and advertise the change in the paper.  The ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the couple. Ma says the typical marriage license application includes a space for the woman to include both a maiden and new last name – but not for the man:

“As a woman, I know that I fight very hard to make sure we have an equal playing field and equal rights and I just saw this as an injustice to the men.”

Her bill would require the license to contain spaces for either party to indicate a name change.   Based on feedback, she’s also amending the bill to include domestic partner applications.  There’s no formal opposition yet, but Ma says she does expect some.