Students’ initials dropped in new transgender move

A TOP university has dropped students’ initials in email addresses because they could be ‘problematic’ for transgender people who change their names.

A spokesman at Bristol University explained: ‘John Smith arriving in 2018 might have received the username js18123.

‘In the new scheme, it will start with any two letters except “js”.’

The latest move in the higher education system to satisfy transgender rights advocates follows the installation of gender-neutral toilets and advice to check the ‘preferred pronoun’ of students.

Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University, branded the move ‘an absurd over-reaction’.

But Bristol University said: ‘Concerns have been expressed by trans staff and students who may have transitioned that their log-in remains linked to their former identity.’