California may allow students to choose names on diplomas

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California college students could soon choose the names they want on their diplomas rather than having their birth names listed. A bill lawmakers sent Monday to Gov. Gavin Newsom aids transgender and nonbinary students by ensuring public colleges don’t use the “deadname” they were assigned at birth. Assemblyman David Chiu said that would remove one of the many barriers that can be worsened if student records don’t reflect transgender and nonbinary students’ names and genders. It expands on a similar bill that Newsom signed in 2019. That measure required K-12 schools to update the diplomas and transcripts of former students to reflect their chosen names and gender identities.