POMONA, Calif. — The class of 2022 is making history.

Trans college students who are graduating from a public college or university in California will be able to receive a degree with their chosen name for the first time.

What You Need To Know

  • State bill AB 245, which went into effect January 2022, now requires public institutions to update records for students who have legally changed their names

  • Graduates can now also request an updated copy of their degree with their chosen name at no cost to them

  • LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality California says removing deadnames from degrees is a way of protecting people

  • The law doesn’t affect names used on legal documents for taxes or other official purposes

State bill AB 245, which went into effect January 2022, now requires public institutions to update records for students who have legally changed their names. Graduates can now also request an updated copy of their degree with their chosen name at no cost to them.

Senior August Benoit will soon be a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona. He’ll be wearing a cap and gown for the first time since graduating high school.

“I graduated high school as how I was expressing my gender before and now I’m changed,” Benoit said.

Benoit identifies as a Demiboy, which he says is a half-way point between non-binary and trans masculine. He began living as August when he moved to college, but his deadname, or name given at birth, didn’t always follow him into the classroom.

“I always hated that…being called my deadname during class and everyone knows now and I have to be like actually,” Benoit recalled.

The new state law goes into effect as Benoit is applying for jobs. He has anxiety about employers finding out his deadname.

“Feeling that my queerness is considered unprofessional in the workplace when that’s really just who I am as a person,” he said.

LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality California sponsored the bill. Communications Director Jorge Reyes Salinas said removing deadnames from degrees is a way of protecting people.

“We know that there is research that shows that transgender people are at a higher risk of discrimination and violence,” Salinas said. “If a student’s transcript or diploma has the wrong name, that document can out them to anyone.”

The law doesn’t affect names used on legal documents for taxes or other official purposes. But for Benoit, it will affect how people see him.

“Being able to graduate as me is really nice,” he said.

Starting 2023-2024 school year, the bill will also require public institutions to allow students to self-identify their names on degrees even without legal documentation.