More than five years after a Ramsey County judge granted Minnesota state Rep. Leigh Finke a legal name change from Christopher Leigh Finke to Leigh Dawn Finke, traffic and parking citations continued to list the former name.
Court records reviewed by Alpha News show at least three traffic and parking citations filed in 2023 and 2025 under the name Christopher Leigh Finke, despite a July 2020 court order stating: “The legal name of the applicant shall be Leigh Dawn Finke.”
A spokesperson for the Minnesota House DFL caucus told Alpha News that “Rep. Finke did not update the registration on her vehicle.”
Finke, first elected in 2022, is the first openly transgender person elected to serve in the Minnesota Legislature and has criticized those who engage in “deadnaming,” a term used to describe when someone refers to a transgender person by their birth name.
“It’s impossible to take seriously the idea that we are speaking out of turn at a time when our rights are being taken away; our lives are being belittled, mocked, dehumanized constantly. Across the nation in state legislatures, in the capitol, now in D.C., we are just hearing constant misgendering, deadnaming, humiliating language,” Finke said in an April 2023 interview with FOX 9.
In another case, Finke shared an article on social media that described deadnaming as an “expression of hate toward transgender people.”
Since taking office, Finke has been a prominent voice on LGBTQ-related legislation at the Capitol, helping lead efforts to make Minnesota a “trans refuge” state. Among other things, the trans refuge law makes it easier for inter-state child custody disputes to be decided in Minnesota if so-called “gender-affirming health care” is a factor in the case. Additionally, the law shields individuals from being subpoenaed or extradited for violating another state’s laws against “gender-affirming health care.”
Finke has also drawn criticism for several controversial positions. For instance, Finke described the actions of an anti-ICE mob that shut down a St. Paul church service in January as “essential.”
In February, during debate over a bill requiring age verification for pornographic websites, Finke said attorneys general in some states were “almost jubilant” about using such laws to prevent “young people from accessing content that could be educational if they are queer.”
Before taking office, Finke delivered a speech defending rioting. “So I’m here to tell you that there will be more riots. We remember Stonewall as a riot and we know now that it was necessary,” Finke said. “The next riots will be necessary too.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
