With a law that spells out the rights of transgender students in grades K-12 set to take effect in California, school districts are reviewing locker room layouts, scheduling sensitivity training for coaches, assessing who will sleep where during overnight field trips and reconsidering senior portrait dress codes.Are we going to require students to have signed affidavits attesting to their sexual identity? Is sexual identity "fluid"--a boy could use the girls' restroom and play on the boys' basketball team, or vice versa?
But administrators, counselors, teachers and school board members also are watching and waiting. The law, the nation's first requiring public schools to let children use sex-segregated facilities and participate in the gender-specific activities of their choice, could end up suspended within days of its Jan. 1 launch if a referendum to repeal it qualifies for the November ballot.
I'm not arguing against the rights of the transgendered, or being insensitive to what they see as their plight. I'm arguing that what we've done in California is among the worst ways of addressing it.
My understanding is that this law applies to transgender students. Not people who want to 'identify' with the opposite gender so they can get in to the locker room for a day ... if I'm correct, then there really is no need to worry because no one would perform sex change surgery, or even encourage the preliminaries, for someone under the age of 18. You don't need to enact sensitivity training, because the issue will not exist. If I'm not correct, and it does allow for a boy who thinks he might be happier as a girl to pee in the women's restroom ... I still don't think that will happen, much but yeah, get rid of the law. This should come down to parts: male parts, male locker rooms/ bathrooms. Female parts, Female locker rooms/ bathrooms. If someone has figured out a way to get a sex change in junior high school, then sure... switch over. Other than that, though, this law should not really be an issue.
ReplyDeletetransgender =/= transsexual
ReplyDeleteDid you mean that to be 'not equal' ? because ... the only difference is that someone who is 'transgender' is one who wishes to become the opposite sex ... which is transsexual. And I maintain ... no one is going to medically certify someone as being 'transgender' before they turn 18. We'll see, but I don't see this law as being either necessary, or a problem. The minute it becomes a problem, it will be repealed.
ReplyDeletePop some popcorn, sit back, and watch as the sky once again remains aloft.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the country always laughs at first. And then it adopts whatever California does.
The law does not appear to require the student to prove anything ... the student self description is enough.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-law-allows-transgender-students-to-pick-bathrooms-sports-teams-they-identify-with/
Mark Roulo
Exactly. If today a bored boy feels like using the girls' restroom, nothing is to stop him.
ReplyDeleteI doubt we'll see too much of this; why we'd want to create the conditions for it, though, is another matter.
The line at the ladies' room is usually longer; I would think it might be the girls invading the boys' bathroom, rather than the other way around. ;)
ReplyDelete@mark ruolo ... yeah, I've got nothing. The law will be gone weeks after the firsy gut sets foot in a women's bathroom ...
ReplyDelete@mark ruolo ... yeah, I've got nothing. The law will be gone weeks after the firsy gut sets foot in a women's bathroom ...
ReplyDeleteTypical adolescent boy response: Yeah, I identify as a woman, so let me into that locker room! Want to see naked girls!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who doesn't think that will happen has never been around teenage boys.
Anonymous ... you forget, though, that the minute he does that, he has just ruled out the possibility of ever dating any of those girls he just saw naked. Or any of their friends. Or their friends' friends. Not to mention the inevitable mockery he would receive from the male students. It's a nice fantasy, but I absolutely do not see it happening. Ever. If it does, you can come back and tell me you told me so. This is absolutely a non-problem that some politico thought would make for good press... pretty sure they were wrong.
ReplyDelete