A transgender student at an Albuquerque high school has skipped his graduation over a dispute about what color robe he had to wear.
Officials at St. Pius X Catholic School insisted that because Damian Garcia was born as a girl, he must wear a white robe along with the other girls at Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
Garcia wanted to wear a black robe like other male students.
He was named Brandi until legally changing his name last year.
St. Pius officials said it's a matter of school policy. The school goes by what the student's birth certificate states if there's any question on what gender-color they wear at graduation.
The Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/184OYir) says the University of New Mexico's LGBTQ Resource Center will host a May 30 graduation ceremony for Garcia.