Francis Dalog Junior is a senior at Shadow Ridge High School in northwest Las Vegas. The school was established in 2003 and opened its doors in 2003, so it is not an old school. It has certainly not been open long enough to lay its decisions at the feet of tradition.
Graduation at the high school is scheduled for June 11. And Frankie is transgender. Who knew these facts would become an issue (Video at the link)?
Recently a school administrator insisted that Francis walk with the girls during graduation.
Now personally, I find it abhorrent that high school graduates are being separated by sex for the ceremony in the first place. This isn't primary school.
But its doubly distressing to know that a young adult is being skewered on the horns of the dilemma the practice raises:
I explained to her that I'm transgender and she's like doesn't matter, whatever's on the paper that's whatever side you're going to go on.
The administrator sided with biological determinism.
Clark County School District doesn't have a specific policy relating to trnsgender students, preferring an "individualized approach".
Each case is a little different; each student is a little different. I think it has to be discussed in light of what's going to be comfortable for all involved, because it's not just that student, but the other students as well.
--Dr. Linda Young, CCSD school board president
In the summer of 2011, Frankie came out. In September of 2011 he posted the following video for the world to see:
For most of Francis Dalog Junior's life, the now 18-year-old has struggled to find what fits. Francis wore dresses as a little girl, then boy's jeans in the fifth grade, and eventually androgynous outfits during the early teen years. Now as a senior at Shadow Ridge High School, Francis has stopped trying on an identity. The tuxedo instead of a prom dress now is not a fashion statement; it's a reflection of who Francis is.
I'd like to inform whoever wrote that last line, "That's very well put." Our identities are not "fashion statements" as far too many people seem to think. We just want to be allowed to be who we are.
It took a while for me to eventually tell people, to get comfortable with the feeling.
--Francis Dalog Junior
A local activist was asked for her opinion.
There should be policies. It should not depend on an individual school, an individual person, an individual superintendent. These are policies that should be in place not just for the sake of students or of staff, but because it's the law.
--Jane Heenan with Gender Justice Nevada
[This is where the local television station video would be if it were embeddable.]
Figuring out who I am is not a problem. But figuring out how to live as who I am is.
--Frankie Dalog, Jr.
|
When CBS News 8 in Las Vegas had its I-Team cover the incident, things changed. The school board overruled the administrator after consulting with a lawyer, noting that
[T]he district wants all students to feel welcome in their education environment and therefore will make reasonable accommodations.
Yesterday Frankie was given permission to walk with the boys.
I want to leave as who I am. I want to graduate high school as who I really am.
--Francis Dalog Junior
You go, Frankie!