BRYAN, Ohio — Jay Rober said he was bullied during his time at Bryan High School.
"I didn't really have any friends. The kids would call me slurs and names they would make up themselves," Jay said.
He worked hard to graduate early, and in March got all the necessary credits to earn a diploma from Bryan High School at just 15 years old.
Jay is also transgender, and the name on all of his legal documents is different than the one he prefers to use. Though he graduated early, the school says it gives every student a chance to walk on graduation day May 29.
A few weeks after early graduation, Jay asked the school to read his preferred name as he walks across the stage.
"They had told me that I could walk and that they would use my preferred name, but then changed their minds," he said.
In a statement to WTOL 11, Bryan City Schools explains a diploma is a legal document and must be issued under the student's legal name. But Jay says all he wants is the school to read his preferred name out of respect for his identity.
"The kids at school would use my deadname to bully me," Jay said. "It would be so embarrassing and disrespectful to go up in front of all those kids and get called it once again."
A deadname is a name previously used by someone who is transgender.
The district writes, "If a student pursues a legal name change BCS will honor the legal name change and also ensure it is reflected on the legal document."
Jay says he was already working on that process, but it won't be complete until after graduation. In the meantime, Jay decided to sit commencement out as a form of protest.
"It's not like we're asking for a big thing," he said. "I just want to be shown that there are people at the school who are actually proud of me for what I did."
Jay's mom says members of the community have rallied behind them, and they are organizing their own graduation ceremony for Jay.
He will walk across his own stage at Fountain City Park in Bryan on June 25 at 1 p.m.