Bill would allow college students to have chosen name printed on diploma
Sacramento, CA—Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) announced a bill today to give students at California public colleges, especially transgender and nonbinary students, the ability to have their chosen names printed on their diplomas. Assembly Bill 2023 would also create a standard process across California public universities and colleges for updating student records to accurately reflect name and gender.
“Making sure college records reflect a student’s name is a no-brainer,” said Assemblymember Chiu. “Transgender and nonbinary people face too many barriers, and the name on their diploma should not be another thing to have to overcome.”
Transgender and nonbinary Californians often face discrimination, violence, and barriers to employment. These existing barriers can be exacerbated by student records that do not reflect their name and gender.
If a person’s name does not match the name on a transcript or diploma, that can present real challenges when applying for graduate school or employment opportunities. It can also “out” individuals who may not wish to be outed as transgender or may not feel safe in their current situation to openly identify as transgender or nonbinary.
Many California colleges have taken steps to give students the opportunity to designate their affirmed name and gender in a variety of areas like student identification cards and school email accounts. However, those opportunities are not always extended to diplomas, and colleges across the state have vastly different processes for updating student records after graduation.
AB 2023 will require public colleges to provide graduating students the option to have their chosen name printed on their college diploma. The bill will also standardize the process for updating records after a student graduates, clarifying which forms of legal identification are sufficient to update student records. In order to update records after graduation, a student would need one form of legal identification, including, but not limited to, a driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, social security card, or court order indicating a name or gender change.
AB 2023 builds off of AB 711, authored by Assemblymember Chiu and signed into law last year by Governor Newsom. AB 711 required schools districts to update the diplomas and transcripts of former K-12 students, particularly for transgender and nonbinary students, to reflect their accurate names and gender markers.
After hearing reports of transgender and nonbinary college students facing the same barriers former K-12 students faced in getting student records updated to reflect their identity, the need to extend the protections won in AB 711 to college students became clear.
Juniperangelica Cordova, a recent UC Berkeley alumna and former Associated Students of the University of California Senator, came forward with her story of being “deadnamed,” or being referred to by the name assigned at birth, on her college diploma.
“As a transgender Latina, my education has always meant so much to me; the classroom offered me a sanctuary from harassment in public, and my degree offered my formerly-homeless family and I an opportunity for financial and housing security,” said Cordova. “When I received my diploma with a deadname that carries so much past trauma and gendered violence, I felt like the years I put into this moment were belittled and erased. By the time students reach graduation, they’ve put in over 15 years of work for the special moment of pulling a diploma out of the envelope. Transgender students deserve that moment to be full of joy, not pain. Policy that supports transgender and nonbinary students having their diplomas reflect their chosen names affirms our right to celebrate the success of graduating from college, just like our peers right next to us.”
Equality California is supporting AB 2023.
“Once again, California has the chance to make a common sense fix by ensuring our college graduates have documentation that matches their name and gender,” said Rick Zbur, Executive Director of Equality California. “This legislation is especially important for our transgender and gender nonconforming students who are often “deadnamed” or referred to by their name assigned at birth rather than their real name. We’re proud to support Asm. Chiu’s pro-equality legislation which will give dignity and respect to ALL California college graduates.”
AB 2023 is expected to be heard in an Assembly policy committee this spring.