There are more than a hundred schools in Italy of all ranks and levels that, despite the absence of national standards, have activated the Alias Career for transgender students, an italian bureaucratic profile of simple application that replaces the registry name with the chosen name (the one the person has chosen to adopt in line with his or her perceived gender identity).
Among these schools there is the “Donadio” hotel school in Dronero (Cuneo, Piedmont Region, Italy), the first school in the province of Cuneo to have introduced regulations for the management of the “Alias Career.”
It is, in particular, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, that after a meeting of the Teachers’ Board, the School Board of the “Donadio” Institute decided to approve the new regulation, which was developed from an initiative of the Genderlens Association and Agedo Nazionale.
Monica Monchiero, a tourism reception teacher, told La Stampa newspaper, “We became interested because in September, at the beginning of the school year, we received a request. The discussion in the Council was calm, we realized that nothing was being taken away from anyone, but it was important to someone. An act of great sensitivity, committing faculty and peers to the use of the alias name, thus a form of respect and care for others. A strong signal, against the grain perhaps: today we talk so much about civic education, in a world where too many things still happen that I don’t like. And that, for us, is the basis. An example that I hope other schools will want to follow.“
What is, in particular, Alias Career?
As we anticipated in the introduction, “Alias Career” is a procedure that allows transgender people to change their names on school and university system/records in order to avoid discrimination and ensure respect for their gender identity.
It is important to note that the alias career is not additional: legally coincides with the one already activated at the time of enrollment containing the master data. Alias Career in Italy remains active as long as the career continues, subject clearly to any requests for discontinuation made by the person requesting it.
This is basically a confidentiality agreement between the school, the transgender person and, in the case of a minor person, the family (the profile will be known only to school administration staff and only the transgender person can choose to tell others about it): an agreement that avoids the discomfort of continuous and forced coming out for the trans* person.
However, the Alias Career is a first step, a starting point along with which other good practices, such as the use of safe spaces, should be accorded: we know well how certain spaces, including bathrooms and locker rooms, are the places where bullying incidents occur most.
How do you apply for Alias Career?
In Italy the activation of the Alias Career, a provisional, transitional, and nonconsolidating profile (reserved exclusively for one’s own academic career), may be requested by the family/legal guardian of a minor transgender student or directly by the adult transgender student.
A signed communication must be provided stating that the student/ has a gender identity different from the one assigned at birth based on biological sex, attesting that the person in question is to be respected and named according to the chosen name of election and pronouns. Proof of psychological and medical initiation is required in the communication.
Once the confidentiality agreement with the institution/university is signed, a new booklet (or ID card) is issued, which, we specify, has no legal value, since it is not an official document and is valid only within the university. Each transgender student will thus have the name chosen in the grade panels, in the booklet (which flanks only the official one) and in the electronic register.
For more on italian Alias Career activation, please read this Genderlens article: Alias Career School Regulations
