Name and Gender Marker Changes

1. Put in place an accessible chosen name and gender marker change policy.

This is the bare minimum, as it’s the law per AB 2315 (2022).

Ensure that there are streamlined processes to update the following once a student adds/updates their chosen name and/or pronouns:

  • student ID cards
  • email accounts
  • class rosters
  • online portals

Where legal names and/or sex markers are needed, such as transcripts and financial aid records, list chosen names and gender identity alongside them.

Example: City College of San Francisco

You may update your chosen name via self-service on MyRAM, which will edit your information across all systems [except for email systems, which are updated separately].

To update your chosen name please take the following steps:

  1. Log in to the RAM ID Portal (https://ramid.ccsf.edu/)
  2. Select “myRAM Portal”
  3. Select “Personal Information”
  4. Under the “Personal Details” section, select “Edit”
  5. Type your name in the “Preferred First Name” box
  6. Select “Update”
  7. You may need to wait a few hours to see your changes reflected across interconnected systems such as Canvas, etc.

(City College of San Francisco, 2024)

2. Find a local community organization that assists with legal name and gender marker changes.

A first step here would be to get to know the organization and how you can best refer students to that organization for assistance. If possible, create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the organization to dedicate a certain percentage of time, or number of students, that the organization guarantees that they will serve in a given academic year. 

Example: Inland Counties Legal Services (ICLS) is a non-profit organization in the Inland Empire that provide[s] advice and counsel, legal education, and full scope representation name and gender marker changes, including petition preparation, filing, and court proceedings, and helping community members navigate updating identity documents with government agencies like the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Social Security Administration, and the California Department of Public Health – Office of Vital Records. They also have a fund that can cover the cost of the filing for those who are denied a fee waiver from the courts and are not able to pay that cost on their own.

Riverside City College brought representatives from the LGBTQ+ Program to campus to present on the overall process, distribute the necessary paperwork, and schedule interested students with a one-to-one appointment with an ICLS lawyer who can move through the legal name and/or gender marker change process with them.

Future growth can include bringing the lawyers to campus each semester to fill out the paperwork with them at that time, or to create an MOU for them to serve a certain number of RCC students each year.

3. Create a fund to assist with legal name and gender marker changes.

This is especially important for students who would not qualify for a waiver of fees, or students in counties that do not offer a fee waiver (if any). Consider working with your district’s fundraising department, or getting permission to start a trust fund through the Associated Students at your college.

Relevant Research

Legal name changes can cost $500 or more when you sum up the cost of court fees, newspaper publication, multiple copies of the official court order, and an updated passport, license, birth certificate, and social security card. Some counties offer fee waivers, others do not. 

For some, “the all-encompassing nature of gender exploration and transition played a role in trans students’ decision to leave, especially amid a negative institutional or classroom climate” (Goldberg et al., 2019, p. 391), with some deciding to return to school only after changing their name legally or going through some aspect of medical transition (Grant et al., 2011; Goldberg et al., 2019).