A school district has insisted on using a trans student’s deadname at their graduation, despite the wishes of the pupil’s parent.
The high school in Escambia County, Florida, refused to use the trans student’s chosen name or print it on his diploma, despite his parent’s requests to reverse the decision.
A “deadname” is the name of a trans person prior to their transition.
Charline Barger, the student’s mother, said her son was set to graduate from Escambia Virtual Academy on 27 May.
After asking the academy’s director, Lisa Morgan, to honour her son’s chosen name, Barger was told it would violate school-district policy and “be a big hassle” because some students might then want to use inappropriate nicknames.
Escambia County Public Schools superintendent Keith Leonard told the Pensacola News Journal: “It has been our practice to announce full legal names, as they appear on birth certificates and diplomas, at commencement ceremonies.”
‘To deny that moment is to deny their identity’
However, Barger said using a chosen name was “about a student standing tall, hearing their real name called, and walking proudly across that stage. To deny that moment is to deny their identity”.
She went on to say: “It may seem like a small moment to those calling the names but for the students on that stage, it’s everything.
A school district has insisted on using a trans student’s deadname at their graduation, despite the wishes of the pupil’s parent.
The school in Escambia County, Florida, refused to use the trans student’s chosen name or print it on his diploma, despite his parent’s requests to reverse the decision.
A “deadname” is the name of a trans person prior to their transition.
Charline Barger, the student’s mother, said her son was set to graduate from Escambia Virtual Academy on 27 May.
After asking the academy’s director, Lisa Morgan, to honour her son’s chosen name, Barger was told it would violate school-district policy and “be a big hassle” because some students might then want to use inappropriate nicknames.
Escambia County Public Schools superintendent Keith Leonard told the Pensacola News Journal: “It has been our practice to announce full legal names, as they appear on birth certificates and diplomas, at commencement ceremonies.”
However, Barger said using a chosen name was “about a student standing tall, hearing their real name called, and walking proudly across that stage. To deny that moment is to deny their identity”.
She went on to say: “He has been referred to by his chosen name by administrators, teachers and students at the school for three years. It may seem like a small moment to those calling the names but for the students on that stage, it’s everything.”
Florida has passed a number of anti-trans laws, including one that bans transgender students from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity, and another that prevents gender maker changes on passports.
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