Why Isn’t Decency a Factor in School Bathroom Use?
The following blog post is by Family Council staff member Deborah Beuerman.
A lawmaker in Utah has proposed a bill that would prevent transgender students in public schools from using bathroom facilities of their choice.
The lawmaker says his plan would protect Utah schools from being forced to allow transgendered students to choose between girls’ or boys’ restrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams depending on the gender they identify themselves as having. The proposal would require schools to provide additional bathrooms for transgendered students.
A California law to allow school students to choose restrooms according to the gender they identify with took effect on January 1. There is a proposed referendum to overturn the law.
A Colorado antidiscrimination law has been applied to transgendered students and their use of school restrooms, as well.
The Maine Supreme Court has just declared that a school violated the rights of a fifth-grade transgendered student when they told him that he had to stop using the girls’ bathroom. The school had offered the use of a staff restroom to the student.