Will the new Title IX rules allow men to use girls’ bathrooms in schools? Absolutely not.
Adult males are not allowed to use student bathrooms. So what is Title IX and what is all the fuss about?
For more than 50 years, Title IX has provided protections against sexual discrimination in schools that accept federal funds. It has also led to the proliferation of women’s sports in our country; in fact, it’s what helped women earn a majority of the 40 gold medals America won at the recent Olympic Games in Paris.
The new rules also aim to ensure that no one experiences sexual harassment or violence in our schools. The rule changes clarify that protections extend to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. They also provide schools with information on how to meet these obligations with appropriate discretion and flexibility.
More: Sarasota School Board Rejects Title IX Protection Against Discrimination Based on Gender Identity
Some local politicians are trying to scare people with wild claims that school administrators are now allowing men into girls’ bathrooms and allowing them to assault girls. However, adult men, regardless of their attire, are not allowed in student bathrooms in schools. Since most people are unfamiliar with school bathroom rules, conservatives are using this as another way to dissuade voters from voting for “liberals and their ‘woke’ ideology.”
However, they do this at the expense of some of our most vulnerable students.
Real people, real stories
A child who is transgender feels that the sex/gender they were assigned at birth does not match their gender identity or how they feel inside. A transgender child does not just wake up one day and decide they want to change. It is usually a years-long struggle that affects less than 1% of the population.
If a transgender child is lucky, that individual has loving parents who can afford the counseling and doctor visits necessary to help them transition. Furthermore, those loving parents are also willing to register their child with the name and gender that they feel is best for them.
The new Title IX rules give schools the direction they need to exercise appropriate discretion in such cases. The child uses a single-stall bathroom or a bathroom that matches their gender identity. Only those who need to know are informed of the situation. The transgender student blends in with the rest of the student body—and life proceeds without much discussion of their gender status.
However, Florida’s current “Don’t Say Gay” laws require a student to register under the name and gender assigned at birth, even if the student has undergone hormone therapy or surgeries that alter his or her body to match his or her gender identity — or reflect the gender listed on an updated birth certificate.
This is guaranteed to lead to discrimination, bullying and possibly violence against a trans student.
I first became aware of the term “transgender” when Nate, a trans boy, appeared before the Sarasota County School Board for permission to use the boys’ restroom. I admit that I did not understand what transgender meant or the issues these students face until Nate had the courage to appear before the board. However, I felt it was my duty to understand the issue before I voted on it.
Transgender students just want to be able to use the bathroom without having to explain over and over that they are transgender and therefore belong in this or that bathroom. They just want to blend in with the crowd at school, just like everyone else, without being labeled “that trans kid.”
With his mother’s permission, I asked Nate in private when he first thought he was a boy and if he was gay. He rolled his eyes and said, “It’s not who I sleep with, it’s who I sleep as.” He said he’d always thought of himself as a boy and hated the girl he saw in the mirror as a kid. It wasn’t until his family heard the term “transgender” in a movie that they knew he wasn’t alone.
He began counseling and hormone treatments. As he began dressing and looking more like a boy, he began getting questioning looks from girls in the restroom. He just wanted to use the boys’ restroom without having to constantly reveal that he was transgender.
The board also heard from a high school student who was born a boy but was actually a girl inside. When he grew his hair long, his girlish features were emphasized and he was harassed by other boys at camp who said he didn’t belong in the boys’ bathroom. They threw him to the floor and pulled down his pants. The student’s parents have worked with their child to address these gender identity issues—and to prevent him from ever having to endure such demeaning treatment again.
How can teachers in Sarasota discuss these kinds of issues with students in a respectful and age-appropriate manner without violating the state’s “Don’t Say You’re Gay” law or students’ privacy?
Hurting Trans Children for Political Points
Unfortunately, too many politicians don’t take the time to learn the facts or listen to the people who live with these issues. Last year, Sarasota County School Board Member Bridget Ziegler even took to social media to post a photo of herself proudly wearing a T-shirt that read, “Real Women Are Not Men.”
That’s why when Ziegler introduced a board resolution in May opposing the new Title IX rules, I knew it would be used as a weapon against local candidates who support LGBTQ rights. And it was. I just underestimated how viciously it would be used against them.
I support LGBTQ rights and am appalled at how some conservatives have turned on Sarasota’s transgender students to score political points. These children deserve our compassion and protection, not our contempt — and not laws and resolutions that endanger them. Politicians in our community and across Florida should not use their power to score political points, regardless of who gets hurt in the process.
They need to take a moment to consider the impact their actions have on real people.
Shirley Brown served on the Sarasota County School Board from 2006 to 2022. She also served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1992 to 2000.
This article originally appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Transgender students in Sarasota targeted for political points
