Who LGBT Youth Scotland is#
LGBT Youth Scotland is the national charity for LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland, aged 13 to 25. It runs youth groups in towns and cities across the country (its community feed shows groups in Glasgow, Dundee, Perth and Edinburgh, among others), online support, and the LGBT Charter, an equality award for schools and organisations. It has offices in Glasgow and Dumfries, and has been on the Scottish Charity Register since 2003.
How a young person can get in touch#
The contact page has separate routes for young people, the press, supporters and schools. A young person looking for support is asked to email the Digital Youth Work Team, and there is a page on its online support with the other ways to talk. If you are a teacher or youth worker, the LGBT Charter team has its own address.
What its guide says#
"Changing your name (formally)" is written for young people, and it is reassuring about the informal step: you can ask friends, school or work to use a different name at any time, which lets you try names out before choosing one. For the formal change it says you need to be aged over 16, and describes two main ways.
A statutory declaration, a signed statement that you now use another name, witnessed by a solicitor or by a Justice of the Peace through the courts. It suggests writing it from the template on the Scottish Trans website, printing it, then either paying a solicitor (ask the price first) or booking a free appointment with a JP. It prepares you for the appointment: you will usually be asked to read the declaration aloud, and that may mean saying your previous name. It recommends asking for certified copies while you are there, for your passport and National Insurance records, and says there may be a charge.
A deed poll, which it says you can buy or make yourself for free. It links a free online template, and says the deed needs two people to sign it, that you might be questioned when you use a free one, and that good-quality paper makes it look more official. Some organisations may want an enrolled deed poll instead, and it warns that enrolment is public, which may not suit you if you are not ready to share your transition.
It adds that neither route changes your birth certificate, which only a Gender Recognition Certificate does.
A third route in Scotland#
Citizens Advice Scotland describes one more formal route for anyone aged 16 or over who was born or adopted in Scotland: recording the change of name with National Records of Scotland, on form 24, by post. It says this changes the name shown on your birth or adoption certificate, but that the change goes on a public register, so it may not suit everyone. For a young person who is not out to everyone, that public record is worth weighing alongside the privacy of a deed poll or statutory declaration.
Further reading for young people#
- Changing your name at 16 or 17: what you can do without a parent.
- Statutory declaration of name change: who can take one, and who accepts it.
- Scottish Trans: the template the guide points to.
- Can I get a deed poll for free?: a free deed poll, and what a drafted one adds.
This page describes what LGBT Youth Scotland publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. LGBT Youth Scotland has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
