So, at least one parent in California — Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peak — says one of his two teenage sons will not be returning to public school because, ohmygawd! the lad might encounter a transgender person in the washroom or shower room/dressing room. Dad says his boys are horrified about the prospect — after he had a talk with them about the recent transgender-rights legislation in that state that allows children to use the facilities that match their gender identity, he says in an article on WND.com. (In the WND piece, he says both of his boys would not be returning, but in a later Associated Press report, he says one son is still thinking about it.)
Hmm . . . I wonder if the lads were horrified about the prospects of encountering a transgender person in the washroom and dressing room/shower room before dad had a talk with them.
Mr. Donnelly also says in his article that “Many of the parents I have heard from within the last few days have literally pulled their kids out of public schools and have enrolled them in homeschool and private school programs.”
Now, I have no idea how many is “many” in Mr. Donnelly’s article — could it be 5 parents or 1,000 parents? — but the conspiracy theorist in me is thinking that this sort of paranoia could lead to a stampede of panicked parents enrolling their kids in private schools, which would be nice for the organizations that run such schools, yes? I mean, think of the money to be made from panicked parents who don’t want their kids exposed to . . . umm . . . well, I’m not sure what exactly, but whatever it might be, it seems worth it (to them) to pay out thousands and thousands of dollars to private institutions . . .
Mr. Donnelly’s fears seem to have to do with his boys’ raging hormones. In his WND piece, he writes: “Allowing teenage boys and girls in the same locker room, showering side by side, is a bad idea. In fact, AB 1266 is a recipe for disaster. This will take the normal hormonal battles raging inside every teenager and pour gasoline onto those simmering coals. The right to privacy enjoyed by every student will be replaced by the right to be ogled.”
I dunno . . . it seems like he doesn’t trust his boys all that much, that the sight of a born-female who identifies as, and presents as, a male might be too much for them and inspire them to do . . . what I don’t know.
I wonder if parents who worry about their kids in these situations are not giving them enough credit. And I wonder what they are teaching their children.
Jillian
jpage@montrealgazette.com
Readers’ comments
They really are flipping out and will really be upset when they realize that this law merely reiterates what is the law in all 50 states. The federal anti-discrimination statute (42 U.S.C. 1983 – commonly known as the civil rights act of 1964) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The US Supreme Court has ruled that this includes discrimination agaisnt a person based on sex stereotypes, for instance firing someone for failing to act according to gender stereotypes such as a woman not dressing “feminine” enough or a man acting too “girly”. This has recently been expanded to include transsexuals, as discriminating against them is nothing more than holding the transsexual to gender stereotypes.
Furthermore, California law already expressly prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity and the law passed last week simply clarified that included school bathrooms, locker rooms and sports to avoid the inevitable litigation. Besides, LA and SF have both been allowing transgender students to fully participate in all aspects of school for 10 years without a single incident. The sky is not falling. The kids are alright.
It’s also simply bad logic to argue that this law is misguided simply because it is subject to abuse. All laws can be violated but that doesn’t mean we throw the baby out with the bath water. For instance, people can defraud the voting system, should we get rid of democracy? People can defraud the welfare system, should we therefore end food stamps? People can rob banks, should we not keep our money there?
Obviously schools will implement this law as it is written, which requires the student to have a gender identity that matches the gender of the bathroom they want to enter. Gender identity is not transient but fixed and demonstrated consistently over time. Furthermore, the tremendous social stigma of being trans will deter the vast majority of pranksters, if not all as we’ve seen in sf and la.
– Autumn
