Transgender children will now be able to use the first name of their choice at school

This circular aims to take better account of the situation of pupils transgender in school settings. If the pupil whose marital status has not been changed so requests, and with the agreement of his parents if he is a minor, the schools must ensure that the pupil's given name is used.

From now on, the educational staff must call the transgender child with the first name chosen by the child, but also change all the places where the child’s registered first name appears. For example, students can have their first name on their canteen card, on call lists, and on digital spaces. However, the first name of the civil status is always used for the monitoring of the rating as part of the continuous monitoring for the national diplomas tests.

An action for an excess of power had been brought against that circular, on the ground that the Law of 6 fructidor an II ((23 August 1794) provides that ‘no citizen may bear any surname or forename other than those expressed in his birth certificate’, and that it ‘is expressly forbidden for all public officials to designate citizens in documents other than by surname, forenames entered in the birth certificate [...]’. However, the Conseil d’État held that the circular under appeal, which contributed to the inclusive education of all children in accordance with the provisions of Article L. 111-1 of the Education Code, did not infringe the law.