Pa. school graduation won’t use transgender name
RED LION (AP) – A central Pennsylvania school district has refused to allow a transgender student’s male name to be announced during his graduation ceremony later this week.
Eighteen-year-old Isaak Wolfe had asked the Red Lion Area School District in York County to allow his male name to be announced during Friday night’s ceremony.
The school board said earlier that Wolfe would be allowed to wear a boy’s black graduation gown. But board solicitor Ben Pratt said a diploma is a legal document and must bear the recipient’s legal name. Wolfe’s given female name – Sierra Stambaugh – is to be read as he walks across the stage.
American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Molly Tack-Hooper said Wolfe is in the process of changing his name but hasn’t had time to complete the process.