AMHERST — It didn’t take long after Election Day for students to start visiting the offices at the UMass Stonewall Center seeking advice on how to prepare for another Donald Trump presidency.

A significant number of these visitors were seeking information on legally changing their names and gender markers, and they were turning to the on-campus resource center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+).

“With the new administration coming in, we’re very concerned that the ability to change gender marker on legal documents will become more difficult,” Genny Beemyn, the Stonewall Center director who organized an information session last week at which a lawyer detailed how trans and nonbinary people can change these documents ahead of time.

“It’s very likely that they (a Trump presidency) are going to limit, or even make it impossible, to change gender marker and legal documents ... so we wanted to offer this workshop to help people who are trans or nonbinary who want to change their gender marker and their name on their legal documents, to be able to begin that process now.”

The session included advice from Emily Daniell, interim co-director of Student Legal Services at UMass.

Beemyn added that many are especially concerned about the ability to change one’s name with federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration or on one’s passport — a process distinct from legally changing one’s name, a process controlled by each state.

Trump has said that he will roll back protections for transgender students on Day 1 in office. Transgender issues were a focus of his reelection campaign — the Washington Post reported that prior to Trump’s election, Republicans spent nearly $215 million on anti-trans ad campaigns.

Additionally, his agenda includes plans to issue guidance defining sex as solely the sex which one was assigned at birth, with the aim of making it harder for transgender individuals to change gender markers on federal documents.

The Stonewall Center has held similar information sessions in previous years, but decided to offer additional events this year, ahead of the new administration. The first was held in September, and another will be held in February with a Zoom option for those unable to attend in person. The date is yet to be announced.

Stonewall Center Student staff member Marrella Brito decided to attend so as to be able to provide information to students visiting the center seeking information, as well as to support friends considering undergoing the process.

Sapphire Tham, also a student staff member, said that she attended last week’s session because she is looking to change her name legally to match her chosen name, and is concerned about the impending change of administration.

“I’m looking at the process myself and its many intricacies,” Tham said. “It’s really important to get it done soon. That’s why I’m here.”