Battles Over Transgender Student Rights Heat Up Across the Nation

At his Portland school, Scott Morrison stopped drinking water during the day so he would not have to choose between the male or female bathrooms. Born a female, Scott identifies as a male and, according to Oregon Live, until recently he often felt anxious when attempting to navigate the restrooms, feeling that he could be discriminated against by his male and female classmates. As a result, the Northeast Portland school added six unisex restrooms to alleviate stress for transgender students and staff. Scott feels more comfortable now, saying, “You don't even have to think about it, and that's great.” Oregon is one of about 15 states that offer specific protection for transgender students, but some advocacy groups are calling for more than unisex bathrooms. They feel that students should be allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms for the genders with which they identify, without fear of harassment or bullying.

Massachusetts Directives

Recently, the Massachusetts Department of Education shared “directives” on how to protect transgender students in public schools. According to Boston.com, students must be allowed to use the bathrooms for their identified genders, as well as play on gender-appropriate sports teams, in accordance with the state’s anti-discrimination law that was passed in 2011. While transgender rights groups have hailed these measures, the Department of Education has also received negative feedback from groups like the Massachusetts Family Institute. The Institute’s general counsel, Andrew Beckwith, argues, “Fundamentally, boys need to be using boys’ rooms and girls need to be using the girls’ rooms, and we base that on their anatomical sex, not some sort of internalized gender identity.” Despite these arguments, the Department of Education encourages schools to take disciplinary actions against any students who refuse to identify transgender students by their chosen gender.

Coy Mathis and Colorado

The New York Times reports that student Coy Mathis may have been born male, but her parents knew that Coy identified herself as a female within only a few years after her birth. She preferred to wear dresses and grow her hair long, crying when others called her a boy. The family met with doctors who only confirmed that Coy did indeed consider herself female and that was how the school should identify her. Kindergarten went relatively smoothly, but Coy’s parents removed her from the first grade when the school began refusing to allow her to use the girls’ restrooms. The school’s lawyer wrote, “as Coy grows older and his male genitals develop along with the rest of his body, at least some parents and students are likely to become uncomfortable with his continued use of the girls’ restroom.” As a result, Coy is currently not enrolled in her home school district and the Transgender Legal Education and Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit against the school on the family’s behalf. The case will investigate whether the school has possibly violated Colorado’s 2008 anti-discrimination law, which was passed to protect the rights of transgender students. Until the issue is resolved, Coy will be homeschooled.

Looking Towards Higher Education

The incidences of public school discrimination against transgender students have dramatically increased over the last few years. While many of the cases have focused on K-12 students, higher education institutions have not been exempt. Smith College, an all-female university in Massachusetts, has been in the spotlight recently for refusing admission to a transgender student because she was not born female. The Huffington Post reports that Calliope Wong posted a photograph of the rejection on Tumblr, which was a result of Wong’s Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) that identifies her as male. While Smith College has accepted transgender students in the past, these transgender students were either born female and identify as male or have proof of gender affirmation surgery. Still, Wong felt misled by the dean of students, with whom she had communicated prior to applying. Her case has also received the support of Smith College students and outside feminist groups, including Yale’s feminist magazine, Broad Recognition. Yale freshman Sarah Giovanniello writes, “Perhaps, this is an attempt by the college to have the ‘best of both worlds' — remaining ‘inclusive' while avoiding all of the problems involved with actually enrolling trans women." While the situation is far from being resolved, similar cases are bound to surface as states scramble to make appropriate accommodations.  

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