Let’s just start with this: If you’re a teacher and you think it’s an appropriate use of your time to trail students heading to the bathroom to make certain they use “the right one,” quit your day job. Immediately.
Following that Public Service Announcement, CNN brings us this story, minus the teacher actually doing the right thing and quitting her day job.
The pep rally was underway as a South Carolina high school student headed to the bathroom. A teacher trailed him. The student is transgender, and she wanted to make sure he used "the right one," he said.
To him, the right one is the boys' bathroom, which he says he has used since seventh grade without incident. Then, in his senior year, school administrators told him he had to use the girls' restroom, he said. They also gave him the option to use the nurse's restroom.
When he exited the bathroom, the teacher did not say anything to him, but he knew from the "exasperated" look on her face that he was in trouble.
Yep, the male student here, only identified as “R.” in the story because he didn’t want to be outed as trans, was suspended. Since he only had three months left before graduation, he took online classes to complete his coursework rather than returning to the school. Go figure. The Oakland-based Transgender Law Center has sent a demand letter to the school and CNN reports that it could not independently corroborate the student’s story other than what’s included in the center’s complaint.
The hope here is that the South Carolina school district will change its policy in accordance with last week’s U.S. Fourth Circuit Appeals Court ruling that prohibiting transgender students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity is a violation of Title IX nondiscrimination protections. The decision should set precedent for federal courts in the entire circuit, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia.
Horry County Schools Superintendent Rick Maxey would not comment specifically on the allegations but said the district is working to create a "welcoming environment."
"The district maintains the privacy of all of its students," Maxey said in an email. "The district seeks to accommodate the individual needs of its transgender students in compliance with the law, including Title IX. We will continue our efforts to ensure a welcoming school environment for all students."
Apparently, that “privacy” includes being followed to the bathroom. Ilona Turner, legal director at the Transgender Law Center, makes a great point:
"It's a very dangerous thing when we create these kinds of policies and laws intended to single out transgender people. They have the effect of policing everyone and placing gender under scrutiny," Turner said.
"Anyone who walks into a women's restroom who has short hair or appears less than totally feminine may have the police called on them or asked for their birth certificate."
Amen.