Name change: Relief for transgender students

The University of Bayreuth has solved one of the most urgent problems for transgender students completing an online semester with a new service now offered by the Student Administration Office. If transgender people wish to officially change their civil first name, this currently requires a court procedure according to the Transsexual Act (TSG). This procedure is often lengthy, and involves a waiting period for students. At the University of Bayreuth, it has become possible this semester to change one’s name and gender entry for internal communications and on one’s student ID card, in advance of a legal change of first name and civil status.

Until now, problems have often come up for transgender students already living with their new name. For example,

1. when taking exams, a person is asked to use their official name, even though they are known by a different name.
2. when, in seminars, the list of participants contains the old name, and instructors read it out aloud or address the person with this name and an incorrectly assigned form of address.
3. when, as a result, a forced outing in front of the lecturer and often in front of the whole seminar is unavoidable in order to be addressed with the correct name and the correct form of address.

This often leads to problems, anxiety, and, unfortunately, discrimination.

As organisations under public law, universities have the responsibility to create conditions that enable all their members to work and study free of discrimination to the greatest possible extent, even during such an interim period. At the University of Bayreuth, the expertise of and cooperation with the "AK Queer" working group of the Student Parliament played a crucial role in enabling us to develop a process suitable for our university. Anyone at the University of Bayreuth who wishes to change their name and gender entry in advance of a legal change of first name and civil status must present their supplementary German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality (DGTI) ID card, together with their completed and signed application form, to the Student Administration Office. Anyone who has questions about the procedure can contact Miriam Bauch, Head of the Equal Opportunities Department of the University of Bayreuth.