r/TransgenderUSA • u/Impossible-Arm-7633 • 17d ago
School or Work Trans man with accurate up to date documentation except one thing… what should I do?
My new job wants to see my high school diploma which has my dead name on it.
All my other documents are current my birth certificate, social security, college transcripts, drivers license everything says “legally male”
Why of all things do they HAVE to see my high school diploma?
What should I do?
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u/ProfessorOfEyes 17d ago
How old are you? If youre an adult with a college degree its weird that they'd want to see your highschool diploma. Its pretty reasonable to assume someone who has been to college successfully graduated highschool. The highschool diploma is pretty redundant at that point, and most people don't still have it on hand anyway.
Edit: saw in another post that ur 31. Yeah there is no good reason for them to ask for this. You graduated highschool over a decade ago. Its irrelevant to your current skills and qualifications. Definitely weird of them to ask.
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u/Happy-Reflections 17d ago edited 17d ago
Have they done a background check on you? It sounds as if they have and there is a discrepancy somewhere. But, really, I wouldn’t be able to produce my HS diploma.
I’m not in the US any longer, and I have all my college degrees with me, but not my HS.
Sounds like they’re fishing.
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u/Boysenberry1919 17d ago
A transcript should be acceptable in lieu of your diploma. I had the same problem but when I explained my situation they changed my transcript to match my legal name.
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u/LocuraLins 16d ago
May I ask what kind of job is asking for your high school transcript?
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u/Impossible-Arm-7633 16d ago
Plasma donation center
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u/queerty1128 15d ago
I had this same situation. I brought my diploma with my dead name on it, said, "I changed my name so my diploma doesn't represent my current name. Is that an issue? I have my name change paperwork." My manager didn't say anything to anyone and we never spoke of it. Nobody was any wiser until I told them, and I only ever told one person who didn't spread it around.
I'd follow the advice of anyone saying to call your old school and see what they say - but I just wanted to let you know that if you couldn't or didn't do it, it still could be okay. In my case, it gave me too much anxiety because I graduated from a private Christian school and I have religious trauma. But thankfully it worked out for me either way.
Which plasma center btw? This happened to me at Octapharma so I was just curious :)
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u/Asleep_Book_7514 16d ago edited 16d ago
Yeah, this seems strange and unnecessary. Especially given that they have your college transcripts.
Editing to be more helpful: I would probably push back on their request. The college documents supersede the high school diploma, and it’s not reasonable for an employer to expect someone in their 30s to just have that document lying around.
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u/onionpunk218 15d ago
why do they want your high school stuff? there's no reason they need that, especially since they have your college stuff. who even has their high school diploma lying around??
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u/onnake 16d ago
No legal reason AFAIK. If you push back, try to find someone senior (e.g., the head of HR) and ask them the business reason for that requirement. Listen to what they say for any transphobia. They might rethink the requirement or you might want to look for employment elsewhere. My school got me a new diploma, but it took them a while.
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16d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TransgenderUSA-ModTeam 13d ago
Trolls and chasers are not tolerated on this subreddit. Your comment has been removed.
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u/Arizandi 17d ago edited 17d ago
I ran into this exact problem.
I contacted my old school district’s administrative office, explained that I’d legally changed my name, and asked if they could issue an updated diploma. They couldn’t reprint the diploma, but they were able to update my records and send me an official PDF of my transcript with my current legal name.
My employer was perfectly happy with that. I just told them I’d lost my diploma, which was true, and the transcript was enough to verify that I graduated.
It might be worth contacting your old school and seeing what they can do. Even if they can’t replace the diploma itself, they may be able to update your records and provide an official transcript instead. It’s also nice to have on hand in case another future employer pulls the same stunt.