Equality And Political Correctness In K-12 Schools

One current court case is dealing with a federal judge releasing an injunction to momentarily restrict transgender students from using school bathrooms as well as locker rooms of their choice (Eldeib). In blocking students from using something as simple as a restroom or locker room, a student’s identity can be misconstrued. Especially with a student who may already feel differently about their identity. A mother in Denton, Texas, hopes to change the legal problems revolving around the controversy of bathroom laws in Texas schools. Amber Briggle states her 8-year-old transgender son has felt he needs to wait to use the restroom until he would arrive home. As well as this, Briggle confirms her son, MG’s grades dropped drastically. His grades continued to worsen until he was given a restroom alteration, allowing him to feel comfortable. (Wright). Along with MG, many students do not feel safe in their schools because of having to hide their transgender identity. Students may not feel safe just because Texas is such a conservative state. Ken Paxton and other state leaders even exchanged in transphobic rhetoric at the 2016 Texas GOP convention. Because of the strong conservative viewpoints in Texas, young people as well as students in the area may not feel accepted as who they are, leading them to disguise their true self. School is already a tough time in a child or teens life, and being discriminated against because of how one identifies does not make a student’s lifestyle any easier. Because transgender students in Texas schools are entitled to free expression of gender identity, they are also permitted to dress how they please. As well as wearing the clothes a transgender students feels most comfortable with, it is permissible to address these students by their preferred name. Because transgender

Every person in the United states is entitle to their rights based on the amendments. Transgender students are protected by Title IX and cannot be neglected in schools by anyone or they will stop receiving federal money. “The Justice and Education Departments issued guidance that, under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, schools receiving federal money may not discriminate based on a student’s transgender status and that the departments would treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of enforcing Title IX.” (According to New York Times). This should be applied to every single school not only schools that get federal money because every transgender student should be protected by a law just as every other cisgender student. Every single citizen in the United states is protected by their civil rights which is “the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and

Kansas passed a bill on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 that denies transgender students from using the restroom, as well as other facilities retaining to gender “when they are in various states of undress” (Committee on Federal and State Affairs, page 1; sec. 2; subparagraph b; lines 8-12), based on their preferred gender and forces them to use the restroom based on their birth sex. This bill was passed by the Committee on Federal and State Affairs in order to protect the privacy of students and to prevent “potential embarrassment, shame and psychological injury to students” (Committee on Federal and State Affairs, page 1; sec. 2; subparagraph f; lines 27-29). This bill also allows for students to sue a transgender student for two-thousand five hundred dollars if they are found in the “wrong” restroom. Forcing the transgender students in Kansas to use the restroom based on biology is wrong because forcing someone to disregard a personal preference to accommodate another is inhumane and has potentially deadly effects.

The School Board will be in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq., if they do not allow a male that is diagnosed with gender dysphoria and identifies as a female, access to the female restroom. Though the Supreme Court has not ruled on this topic, a Fourth Circuit ruling, the Department of Education and Department of Justice Dear Colleague Letter, and case law regarding transgender students can help enlighten the school board on this topic. An introductory understanding of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 will assist in this matter. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and its regulations prohibit sex discrimination in schools, educational programs and activities that are recipients of Federal funds. Within Title IX it specifically prohibits the discrimination of student’s based on gender identity, including the discrimination of transgender students. Title IX provides: “[n]o person… shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a).

In the last several years the United States of America has shown progression towards equality for LGBT. With whole states being the frontrunners of support for LGBT rights it has become apparent that change is happening. In 2012 gay marriage was legalized in all fifty states, allowing many couples the ability to wed. Close friends of my mom were able to wed because of the law. Not only has there been steps taken for sexuallitys but, also for those who are transgender. In the last couple years the Transgender Community has seen discussion after discussion about the use of bathrooms. It has shown that there’s many who support trans bathroom rights and that the country is willing to move forward. Also on the chopping block of the transgender

In recent years, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has received an increasing number of questions from parents and schools regarding civil rights protections for transgender students. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination in educational programs/activities based on gender, including discrimination based on a student’s gender identity or transgender status. This letter, while it does not add requirements to applicable law, provides significant guidance and encouragement regarding a school’s Title IX obligations for transgender students and how a school is evaluate for compliance with these obligations.

In her article North Carolina students sue U.S. over stance on bathroom access, author Colleen Jenkins talks about the issue going in North Carolina regarding the law in which banned transgender’s using the the restroom of the gender with which they identify with. In her article, Jenkins discusses the fact that students in North Carolina have asked the U.S. court to block two federal agencies from withholding education funding while the dispute over the bathroom access for transgenders goes on. In addition, the group called “North Carolinians for privacy” discussed the fact that U.S Department of Justice and U.S Department of Education had dishonorably held arrangements of government laws banning segregation in the education settings on the

More and more kids and teens are realizing that, they are not who they want to be. Meaning that, they want to, or have already changed their gender identity. This doesn’t seem like the problem, but these kids, teens, and even adults don't have the rights we have on a regular daily bases. According to Discovery Education, it says that, these kids and teens aren’t allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they choose to be. This is a big problem throughout the United States, especially in elementary, middle, and high schools. The government also took away the law stating that transgender people, are to use

Here in Canada, this issue has been brought forward in both communities and provincial level of concerns. To take a look closer to home, the city of Toronto had witnessed the complexity of this issue in the past years. A Toronto transgender teen who identifies as a male, was banned from using his high school boys restroom, and was forced to leave school grounds and search for a public bathroom at a gas station. Concerns were mentioned for the safety of Spencer, and also how he felt uncomfortable being forced to use the women’s restroom; however, several parents and students agreed with how the school was taking action to this problem. After a petition was enacted by fellow supportive students, Spencer was allowed to freely use the restrooms at his high school.

Under Title IX, a school is permitted to provide certain sex-segregated areas, such as restrooms and housing, as well as certain single-sex classes and sports teams. Transgender students must be allowed to participate in activities and access facilities consistent with their gender identity.

This has not been the case with the seventeen school districts who have reported zero problems with transgenders involved in inappropriate behaviours ( Percelay, 2015). This will ironically have the reverse effect of placing Transgender men in women's restroom and transgender women in male restrooms, it is very clear who are likely to be victimised under these circumstances. Why the hate and stigma of individuals yearning for a place to belong, after all, they are human beings too and should be protected like the general

They deserve to feel safe in school, be protected from physical harm, and use the bathroom of their choice. The progress to giving them the liberties they yearn for, however, is slowed by the naive human beings that compose our society. Our country is filled with people that view themselves as kind, forgiving and welcoming, but they do not fight for what is right. Because our population is trapped in a utopian version of humanity, we cannot promote righteousness. Nevertheless, transgender students need us see the legitimate nature of civilization. In order for our world to match our currently inaccurate picture of life, we need to step out of our distorted reality. Since transgender students constantly face discrimination and violence, it is urgent that we create laws that specifically outline the freedoms belonging to transgender students, instead of mimicking the vague list of rights already part of federal law. With definitive legislation, we can effectively implement change. By making laws regarding the rights of transgender students, and then rigorously administering those rulings, we can change the way our society treats transgender students, and dramatically increase their quality of

TIME magazine in April 5, 2016, in North Carolina, the law passed recently became the first state law in the country limiting transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates, also excluding LGBT people from anti-discrimination protections, plus blocking municipalities from passing their own anti-discrimination rules. (Dalesio, 2016)

However, President Donald Trump is moving to reverse Obama-era guidelines on transgender students' right to use the bathroom of their choice in public schools to no rights at all (Kennedy). Certain schools give transgenders the right to choose the bathroom that they're comfortable in, while in other schools, it is necessary to be on a sex-reassignment plan and to have your sex legally renamed in order to use the bathroom you wish. Yet, there are problems which occur in this, “Schools can only require an assertion of gender transition. Requiring a diagnosis or treatment before a student is considered transgender may be unfair to lower-income students without access to such options, advocacy groups say” (Blad). One thing that many don't consider is the setting of income in which these students have. Another issue is that President Trump’s opinions on transgender students has lost federal protections that allowed them to use school bathrooms which match their gender. “In several cases, schools have opted to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity, but complaints from parents or others in the community have prompted schools to reverse their policies” (Kennedy). Even though some parents may be worried of danger involving creeps and predators, it is important to take into consideration the safety

Transgender inequality has been the topic of controversy within recent years. As time moves on, rallies become more frequent, organizations are becoming more widespread, and legislation is being passed to help integrate transgender citizens within society. At the root of most of this controversy seems to be transgender students’ rights within education, and what progress can be made to expand upon those rights, or even sometimes the lack of them. While this controversy is vibrant and spreading like a wildfire, it is nowhere near a recent occurrence. Within education, transgender students have been the subject of exclusion in education throughout history, causing further controversy.