Two school districts in Texas
Marilyn Morrison started the school year at Cannon Elementary School in Grapevine, TX as a girl for the first time. The third-grader will apparently not be finishing the school year there.
The constant bullying has become just too much.
It makes me feel like I'm my old self when I was a boy.
I just can't take it. It's too much for a kid like me.
--Marilyn
In the end, it was getting to the point that she had already lost faith. Every time she would try to go to a teacher and follow proper protocol, it always ended up in it is a misunderstanding. You send it to the point that she didn't want to talk to them anymore.
--Chelsea Morrison, Marilyn's mother
Chelsea says the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District offered to let Marilyn use the bathroom in the nurse's office and library but claims that plan wasn't properly executed.
It came to a point when the teachers would ask her when she asked to go to the restroom which one are you going to in front of a whole classroom full of people.
--Chelsea
It has been a hard journey so far. But I think that now that I homeschooled, I won't have to deal with kids bullying me.
“It's hard to have to speak up and out [for] my daughter, but I don't have a choice. I feel like it's the only way that I can protect her. It kills me to know the kids could be so hateful.
--Chelsea
The school district declines to comment for fear of violating student confidentiality.
Meanwhile another third grade transgender student has generated controversy at Walnut Springs Elementary School in Dripping Springs.
"Texas Values" has challenged the schools decision to let the student use the girls restroom.
When you go to the restroom, you’re in a vulnerable state of undress.
--Nicole Hudgens, Texas Values
The bathrooms in the elementary schools have stalls, so children aren’t going to the bathroom in front of each other.
I’m here because I support transgender people’s rights and more importantly, I support my child going to an inclusive school.
--Joanna Day, Walnut Springs mother
Some argue Dripping Springs Independent School District should have notified parents that a transgender student was attending the same school as their children.
That, of course, would have violated the child's federal right to privacy.
If your child was getting an accommodation, if your child had a disciplinary history, other people in the class would have no right to know about it.
--Day
Georgia Vanscoy, 8, just wants her friend to be able to be able to enjoy being a kid.
I would be really, really happy if she could come into the bathroom at school and just…be who she is.
Dripping Spprings ISD released the following statement:
Dripping Springs ISD is committed to providing an exceptional education and a safe learning environment for all students. We value all children as we prepare them to be life-long learners and positive contributors to the world.
District policy prohibits unlawful harassment or discrimination against any student on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin or disability. Dripping Springs ISD is closely monitoring judicial and regulatory developments in connection with the rights of transgender students. In the absence of clear guidance from the courts on the question of accommodations for transgender students, the District is handling individual student requests for accommodations on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the age of the student, the nature of campus facilities, the activities the student participates in and the privacy interests of other students. Federal privacy laws prohibit the release of educational information regarding any student, including accommodation information. Accordingly, the District will not respond to inquiries about any individual student’s accommodations.
Our goal is to serve all students with respect and dignity. Parents with concerns about their own child’s learning environment should address those concerns with the child’s home campus.
A hearing was held this morning in Wichita Falls before federal Court Judge Reed O'Connor, "requesting the court clarify its stance on the transgender guidelines issued by the US Department of Education earlier this year.
After a longer than expected presentation, O'Connor told the court that he would consider the statements brought before the courts and issue a ruling at a later date.
Comments
Grapevine is by Dallas
I have always gotten the feeling that the people there seem to have sticks up their butts. Hate going to Dallas.
Dripping Springs people haven't ever given me the same impression. However, it's near Austin, and Austin is being inundated by filthy rich snobs who, most definitely have sticks up their butts.
I wish people would just let people use the bathroom in private. This whole thing is ridiculous.
Thinking that an 8-year-old transkid would...
...put other kids in danger simply by using the restroom is absurd.
Absurd, indeed!
The ones in danger are trans people, young and old. Especially in a bathroom. Mean Girls (and Guys) use the bathroom too, and it gives them a semi private place to be themselves - mean.
Thanks for posting this.
A friend of ours has a child attending the school in Dripping Springs and is very proud of the stance taken by the district. I think your comment is right on target.
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
I have to admit
to much ignorance. It is hard for me to "get" how an 8 year old could be so sure they were meant to be the opposite sex. I get that there are babies born that are both sexes in terms of equipment (forget the name of that), and the parents choose which that baby is to be. I get that with hormones, body chemistry, there is a whole range, not just one set of numbers for men and another for women.
One of my children is gay, married last summer. But I simply don't remember seeing with my kids or noticing with grandkids a whole lot of awareness of sexual identity until they were older. I can't wrap my brain around the idea of a child that age deciding they are not a girl/boy, but the other. Surely there are not so very many of these children.
They have stalls in school bathrooms and I think it is stupid to worry about which toilet they are using. Unless the adults have made an issue of it, I doubt the elementary kids would notice. They have other things on their minds.
Children tend to identify their sex before age 5...
...and transgender children are no different in that regard than other kids...and no less uncertain about which sex they identify with.
Children tend to identify their sex before age 5...
...and transgender children are no different in that regard than other kids...and no less uncertain about which sex they identify with.
Well yes.
I guess what confuses me is that they would decide/know so young that they want to be or are meant to be the opposite of what their body is. Maybe I'm wondering if part of it is culture and what are perceived to be female or male roles.
Maybe this is more ignorance on my part, but there men and women are both a combination of both female and male hormones, and the ratios are not precise. Bodies are different of course. But basically, there are few roles that cannot be filled by either a female or male.
I am not arguing with anything you are saying, or not intending to.
But it does still surprise me that children would be so sure. Maybe we ought to be sort of unisex in our treatment of all kids until they hit puberty.
If you prefer, it is okay to just ignore my confusion and comments.
I had a friend at 9 or 10 who wanted to be a boy
That's not 5 or 8, but not too far off and neither of us had hit puberty. You should have seen her face when I told her there was surgery for that. This was almost 40 years ago. She already dressed and acted like a boy. To me, she pretty much was a boy. I wonder if she is now a he. I'd say I could try and find out on Facebook, but I wouldn't know his name.
Interesting