Arcadia, CA is situated in Los Angeles County, in the San Gabriel Valley, 13 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It is probably best known for being the site of the Santa Anita racetrack, although it is also home to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.
In 2010 Bloomberg named Arcadia as one of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids for the second straight year. I guess that was "unless your kid is transgender."
On Tuesday the Arcadia school board unanimously passed a resolution to accept an agreement with the US Departments of Education and Justice to end an investigation into allegations of discrimination against a transgender student in a complaint filed in October 2011. The resolution agreement is here.
Less than a month ago California legislators approved a bill that would require public k-12 schools to allow transgender students to let transgender students decide which restrooms to use and which teams they join based on their gender identity. The bill still awaits the governor's signature.
On Sunday Assembly Speaker John A. Perez defended the law as passed against the "boy in a girls' locker room" misconception.
You’re buying into the concept that the kid who would be coming into that locker room looks like a boy. What you’re going to find is someone who looks like a girl, who presents as a girl, who identifies as a girl, who’s trying to be treated as the girl that she knows she is. Now in government, it is important that we stand up and look for the rights of marginalized individuals and individuals that don’t have much of a voice. And that’s what this bill speaks to.
--John Perez
You can ask Governor Brown to
sign AB 1266 here.
The DOE's Office for Civil Rights was investigating the case of a student who was born female but has identified as a boy since before kindergarten, socially transitioned to living as a male in fifth grade and is now entering ninth grade.
His family began the gender transition process after the student was “teased and socially ostracized” by classmates over “his masculine clothing and hairstyle, which did not conform to female stereotypes,” according to prosecutors. On one occasion, a classmate reportedly referred to the student as “it”.
Social transitioning involves "adopting a new, traditionally male first name, expressing a desire to be referred to by masculine pronouns and presenting outwardly as male, including clothing and hairstyle."
Harassment reportedly immediately ceased as soon as his classmates were notified of his gender transition.
DOE received complaints that during sixth and seventh grade, the district did not allow the student to use the boys' restrooms and locker rooms.
At school, the student was required to use the school nurse’s bathroom instead of school lavatories and locker rooms, Wednesday’s letter to the district says. Sometimes, he found the door locked and had to search for a school employee to open the door. And getting to and from the bathroom required a trip across campus, prompting questions from classmates about what was taking him so long. At times, the student avoided using the bathroom at school all day.
The complaints also claimed that during a school sponsored overnight camp, the student was not allowed to stay in the cabin with other male students but was instead required to stay in a cabin separated from all of his classmates.
The agreement between the district and DOE required the district to take steps to treat the student like all other male students. The district will amend its policies to designate gender-based discrimination as a form of discrimination based on sex.
Under the settlement agreement, the district agreed to work with a consultant to amend its policies involving gender-based discrimination and train administrators and faculty on preventing gender-based discrimination and creating a “nondiscriminatory school environment for transgender students.”
--prosecutors
That approach is along the lines of the reasoning in the EEOC decision in the Mia Macy case.
The agreement also calls for teachers to undergo training on preventing gender-based discrimination.
The provision in the agreement related to the specific student will remain in place until the student leaves the district. The districtwide provisions will be in place through the 2015-2016 school year.
All students, including transgender students, have the right to attend school free from discrimination based on their sex.
We commend the district for taking affirmative steps to ensure that this student and his peers can continue to learn and thrive in a safe and nondiscriminatory environment.
--Joscelyn Samuels, acting assistant attorney general for the civil rights division
School district officials have declined to comment.
This sends a clear message to school districts around the country saying ‘This is what the federal government is going to be expecting of you.'
I know that he and his family feel at ease now, going into high school with all this in place. He can focus on being a kid and learning.
--Asaf Orr, National Center for Lesbian Rights