deadnaming

using a new name, adopted legally or informally, to reflect their correct gender is key for transgender people. Most people don't even know someone's deadname (their former name): "Respectful friends and family no longer use it, and others, also out of respect, don't ask what it was" (SPLC's Intelligence Report, spring 2019). Deadnaming sometimes appears when crime victims are identified by their deadnames, confusing investigations and leaving readers uninformed about the death of someone they may have known under another name. Law enforcement agencies are adopting more up-to-date policies regarding transgender individuals. Writers and journalists must have a defensible reason for deadnaming anyone.