For advocate Meggan R. Sommerville, the case hit close to home as she remains entrenched in her own civil-rights battle with her employers Hobby Lobby.
“Any time there are policies that are against an individual or a group of people be they gay, lesbian or transgender it sets a bad precedent and causes so much harm not just to that individual but the community as well,” she told Windy City Times. “If someone is oppressed by an organization it’s the responsibility of the community to stand with that person and be their voice and their support.”
“The treatment of trans students across the country is becoming an even bigger issue than it already was,” community educator for Lambda Legal Midwest Crispin Torres said. “Lambda Legal stands with this young person and all transgender students seeking equal treatment in schools. It’s a matter of safety. Singling out trans people as different is just false. This is an issue that touches all young people.”
Parent and school psychologist Laura Michaels was there in support of a parent with a gender nonconforming high school student. For her, the ramifications of segregating a transgender child are severe.
“It’s isolating and the cruelest form of bullying,” she said. “It’s bullying by authority figures who have the power and control. It has a devastating impact upon self-image, self-esteem and emotional development.”
Those who wanted the school board to rescind their agreement with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) were just as vocal.
District 211 Xiaobin Liu said he had a simple message regardless of the Student A’s gender identity. “Boys go to the boy’s room and girl’s go to the girl’s room. That’s what we want,” he said. “We believe that he is not a she by birth. If you open the door to allow the opposite sex access it’s very dangerous.”
Liu felt that Student A’s peers—many of whom showed up in solidarity with her—should have no say in the matter. “They’re minors,” he said. “Can they vote? No. Who pays the taxes? We do. The adults.”
Len Green is a Palatine resident originally from Durban, South Africa. “This is being approached the wrong way,” he said. “If my child was still at school and was being bullied for whatever reason, I would sue the child and the parents who have done the bullying act. The school board is not bullying [Student A]. They are trying to find a compromise.”
Green added that he felt segregation of the student was entirely justifiable. “Gender segregation is not discriminatory,” he said. “I’m not criticizing [Student A’s] rights. In co-ed schools they have gender segregation for a reason. We can have unisex or single stall facilities for a variety of kids at the high schools.”
There have been various groups weighing in with religious objections throughout the case. However, minister with the United Church of Christ Cindi Knox had an answer for them.
“Your identity is not in your body, it is in your soul,” Knox said. “When a trans person says ‘I am male’ or ‘I am female’ that is not a question of ‘what is my body?’ That is a question of ‘who do I know that I am? Who do I know that I have been created to be?’ Some religious folks miss that because they are tied into the body rather than the soul.”
“I think people need to take time, sit down and learn what being transgender really means,” Sommerville said. “I grew up in a Christian home. My parents have been fully supportive. They took the time to understand what it means to be transgender. When a group of people blatantly opposes something out of ignorance, that’s hate. It’s a failure of the most chilling kind.”
Her sentiments were echoed by some of the people who could not attend the meeting or were not given the opportunity to speak owing to time restrictions.
They instead sent letters to District 211’s school board or voiced their opinions on social media.
Julia Clark—a senior at Palatine High School—posted her intended address on Twitter, a statement from her and the group D211 Students and Alumni for Access. It read in part: “As a student, I have been told that I am directly affected by the allowance of transgender students access to the locker room of their chosen gender,” she wrote. “At the same time, I have been told to be silent, as it is an adult problem with adults making the decision. But I will not be silent. I feel no amount of discomfort if a trans student uses the locker room with me without privacy curtains.”
In a letter to Superintendent Daniel Cates, ESPN journalist and celebrated advocate Christina Kahrl reminded the school board of their obligation to protect their students.
“I trust that you will honor your agreement with the Office of Civil Rights,” she wrote. “But I also expect that District 211 will fulfill its obligation treat all of their students fairly, equally, and without separation and discrimination. Embrace this opportunity as a chance to do right by this student, all of your students, and all of your students to come. The present and the future will thank you for it.”
See related coverage, School district keeps agreement on trans student, says won’t apply district wide, at the link: windycitytimes.com/lgbt/School-district-keeps-agreement-on-trans-student-says-wont-apply-district-wide-/53606.html.