Harper Jean Tobin Summary

Activist and professor Dean Spade, in his book Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law, condemns current law policies surrounding discrimination and hate crimes against transgender and gender non-conforming populations. Spade proposes a critical trans politics that is superior to the equal rights efforts of gay and lesbian activists up to this point in United States history. Instead of desiring to be included in a law enforcement system that oppresses the people it claims to protect, proponents of Spade’s critical trans politics argue that the entire system, along with all related systems of policing and regulation, need to be either fundamentally

Most don’t explicitly look into the complexity of a transgender person’s life and all the questions or problems one might face: Do I use the men’s or the women’s bathroom? Is it appropriate to use this locker room? Those are only two of the many questions a transgender person might run into on a daily basis because of how others would see the situation, how the people who may have a sneaking suspicion that the woman they saw go into the ladies’ bathroom isn’t actually female by their definition, or how it could also seem strange to see that same person go into the mens’ bathroom. These all lead to dysphoria in any person’s situation in public places due to the fact that many choose to taunt or mock the person; however, with the help of Title IX these questions could start to vanish from the thoughts of many transgender students which Blad exemplifies with a quote in her article:

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

Texas recently brought a case forward blocking President Obama’s transgender bathroom policy. “The Texas case was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, who led a group of plaintiffs that included 12 other states and two school districts. The plaintiffs argued that the Obama administration guidance came with the implicit threat that federal education funds could be withheld if school districts refused to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender identity. The guidance also had implications for federal student privacy laws, threatening education officials with sanctions if they fail to address students by their preferred gender pronouns. In a statement, Paxton praised the ruling as correcting "illegal federal overreach" by the Obama administration” (Korte, 2016). The Texas judge ruled that Obama’s bathroom policy could be

Grimm argues that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the law that bars sex discrimination in the nation’s schools, prohibits discrimination based on his gender identity. Grimm’s case is the first case devoted entirely to transgender rights the justices have agreed to hear – meaning there are few clues to how they might rule. But there are many cases posing similar questions about federal law and gender identity waiting in the wings. In one such lawsuit, a Michigan corporation has asserted the right to discriminate against a transgender employee based on the company owner’s religious

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

After considering the facts and the precedent cases, we are first upholding Auer Deference on behalf of the respondent, and we rule that the unpublished D.O.E. letter must in fact be granted deference. Second, after considering all of the facts we have come to the conclusion that due to changing times and broadening terms, the term “sex” can no longer solely mean biological sex and must also include factors such as gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and we believe that it schools are to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity or it would be a violation under the Title IX acts.

The word transgender has become a common one in today's society. Especially after an article published by The Washington Post, where it talked about a case in Virginia, where a high school transgender student named Gavin Grimm, sued his highschool board, "alleging that the policy violated his civils right". The article also informs that the case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The case resulted in Gavin having to go to the girl's bathroom. This case took by storm almost every media in the U.S., as well as more cases related to transgender people spread through the news media, as well as appearing in John

Coming out as a transgender, identifying with a gender expression that differs from the assigned sex, has proven to be quite difficult through the ages. While the acceptance of transgender people has grown significantly higher throughout the years, people’s stance on them are still quite divided, and the uphill battle for transgender rights has proven this. Just giving transgenders the right to simply go to the bathroom they identify with has shown to be controversial according to the TIME cover Battle of the Bathroom. The TIME magazine makes sure to note the problem defiantly “far more than public facilities” (Scherer par. 9). Transgender rights are a problem that Jamison Green, president for World Professional Association for Transgender Health, thoroughly addresses in a report written by Alan Greenblatt for CQ Researcher. Jamison Green’s specific purpose in that report is to justify why transgender people deserve basic human rights like everybody else, as shown in society, through his use of facts, qualifiers, figurative language, counterarguments, and appeals to logic and values.

The administration is saying these statues does not address how the transgender student should be allowed to use public educational facilities. The plaintiffs’ argument was then upheld by the court. The court stated defendants are not entitled agency deference under Aver v. Robbins. The issue of the rule of law in this particular case it calls into question how these guidelines are fair to everyone and can be applied equally to everyone under the law. It may help transgender students feel vindicated, but could offend students who consider themselves non-transgender. The application of this case rests largely on the court’s summary that the defendants’ actions were unreasonable and causes more confusion for educational institutions. The court addresses the significance of the rule of law and how the defendant’s actions could cause harm to the plaintiffs’. The court countered the defense argument that no harm would be done even if the plaintiffs’ failed to comply with guidelines it would be impossible for them to demonstrate harm and are required before action can be taken against the

On December 28, 2014 Leelah Alcorn, a transgender student, committed suicide after being rejected by her Christian parents and peers. Her parents’ beliefs prevented her from transitioning from a male-to-female, and constricted her from acting among her wishes as a transgender person by sending her to conversion therapy. Although it was a rash decision for her to take away her life in order to obtain rights for the LGBT community as a whole, there are many cases like Leelah’s that continue as of today because transgender people do not feel comfortable in a transphobic society. A large controversy concerning this issue is the bathroom policy which consists if a person should have the right to go to a restroom that they feel like they belong, not concerning their sex assigned at birth. However, this bathroom controversy is not the only thing that Leelah Alcorn or many others died for. Leelah wanted to defy society’s beliefs against their bigotry against transgenderism.

In past generations, it has been clear to society that males and females use segregated bathrooms. It is also known that the rate of transgender people has been growing over the past years. Transgender people constantly face troubles when using a bathroom in public. Nevertheless, as society has become more aware of the transgender population and the issues that they face, many schools have had to decide how they will respond about the issue of school bathrooms when students identify themselves as transgender. A school should be able to provide separate facilities based on sex, but must allow transgender students access to the facility which matches their gender identity.

Professor Johnson’s lecture sparked conversation about whether or not the Supreme Court ruling accomplished enough for the LGBT community. At the time, I was unaware of how the ruling could be something that wasn’t an all-around win for the community, but after being introduced to queer politics

Association , American Medical. “Transgender Rights as Human Rights, November 16.” AMA Journal of Ethics, Amer Med Assoc, 1 Nov. 2016,

Thus, we should never make kids feel ashamed of having to use the restroom at school or even just in public. Secondly, transgender kids and adults who use public restrooms do not to anything other than use the restroom. For instance, Brown reports, that when Grimm uses the restroom, he “goes in, goes out. Same deal as always”. Therefore, people should not be scared if someone, who they believe is transgender, walks into the lou. Thirdly, many or most of the arguments against trans kids using their preferred restroom are religious. To illustrate, Brown tells that “religious freedom is a shield to protect against government imposition of religious views.” and that “it isn’t a weapon to force others to live according to your own beliefs.” Meaning that religious laws help protect others religion, but does not mean that they can force religion on someone else. Hence, church vs state arguments are invalid, void, and absurd. For all of these reasons, trans kids should not be humiliated by any means or for any reason.