Transgender students will be able to use their new first name in their schools, without changing their marital status.
The Council of State confirmed in a decision rendered on Wednesday that the circular of September 29, 2021 from the Minister of National Education which provides for this possibility for students was indeed legal.
A request for annulment of this text had been formulated, on the grounds that the law provides "that no citizen may bear a surname or first name, other than those expressed in his birth certificate" and that "it is expressly forbidden for all civil servants to designate” citizens by other surnames and first names “in the acts” carried out.
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But the administrative court considered that the text was in conformity with this law.
Indeed, the first name of a transgender student can be used by the staff of the National Education “in the context of the internal life of the establishments and for the documents which come under it”, notes the decision.
But "only the first name registered in the civil status must be taken into account for the follow-up of the notation of the pupils within the framework of the continuous control for the tests of the national diplomas".
Gender identity in schools: The @Conseil_Etat validates the circular which recommends the use, by educational staff, of the first name chosen by transgender students.
And this, in the name of inclusive education for all children.
=> https://t.co/7t46w9DwXh pic.twitter.com/meP3CbiCGR
– Nicolas Hervieu (@N_Hervieu) September 29, 2022
Thus, if a student has not yet changed his first name in the civil status, he may be called by his new first name in class, on internal documents such as the correspondence book or the canteen card, but the diplomas will remain issued. with the mention of his former first name.
There is therefore no conflict between the application of the law on the official documents of a pupil, which will bear his first name in the civil status, and the use of a measure which makes it possible to "better take take into account the situation of transgender students in the school environment, to facilitate their support and to protect them", underlines the decision of the Council of State.
