Why US schools are at the center of trans rights transcript

In the past few years, many Republican governors have signed legislation targeting LGBTQ people into law. "Two controversial bills are now law in Alabama." "A bill regulating what school bathroom Oklahoma students use..." "A house committee passed a bill focused on pronouns." And hundreds more of these bills have been introduced in state legislatures. More every year for the last 3 years. The laws are increasingly focused on what sports teams transgender school children can play on which bathroom they can use, and about the use of pronouns.

But, these bills are at the state level. If you looked to the federal government, you’d hear a different message to transgender students. “We’re here to say that’s wrong." "And it’s against the law.” That’s because the current federal government believes gender identity discrimination violates a 1972 federal civil rights law. So when it comes to the rights of trans students conservative states and the federal government are at odds.

But the enforcers of education policy are a third level of government: local school boards. And they’re caught in between. With extraordinarily high stakes. I was thinking, wow, there's no way I'm ever going to vote yes for this. Gender affirmation is suicide prevention. This coming year will be my seventh year teaching in Tennessee. I'm seeing a lot more depression, a lot more anxiety. I'm seeing a lot, a lot of suicidal ideation, which the data bears out.

One estimate says that 20% of trans and nonbinary youth will attempt suicide. That's two times the rate of their cisgender peers. And other surveys on mental health and trans youth find that they are more than twice as likely as cisgendered children to experience bullying or to not attend school because they didn’t feel safe. I do have a transgender son that is 17 years old. I live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Almost nowhere have more anti-LGBTQ bills been introduced this year than in Tennessee.

And at least 2 anti-trans laws related to participation in school sports and bathrooms have already gone into effect. Tennessee’s bathroom law allows “students, parents or teachers” to sue schools if they “allow a transgender student in the bathroom” of their gender identity “when others are in there.” In our school, the rule is trans kids either have to use the restroom designated for their sex assigned at birth or they need to go find a single-stall gender-neutral restroom.

And our campuses were not built that way. From one end of the school to the other, upstairs on this end and downstairs on that... The one time that Toby decided to just go ahead and go into the male facilities they started chanting. They started beating on the stall door. You're asking a kid to fight through dysphoria and put themselves in harm's way. In 2021, when the Tennessee laws went into effect, most school boards adopted it as policy.

But not all of them. "We are being asked to pass a policy that goes along with state law, yet it is a violation of civil rights." This is the Metro Nashville Public School board which governs this school district of roughly 80,000 students discussing whether or not to adopt the state law that bans “transgender athletes from participating in girls' sports" "...in public, middle, and high schools." "It is a moral and ethical dilemma for me as a board member." It was not something that anyone on our board was willing to make the motion to pass.

"The focus has just been wrong like how's this something that we're placing at the feet of our children?" "All those in favor of deferring policy 4.301 raise your hand." "Okay, unanimous." We're in this place now where we as a district have been able to say: There are adults and people in charge in your life who support you and care about you. And so the thought that our hand may be forced to implement these anti-trans policies is very scary to me.

But that decision is in a legal gray zone, and it could have consequences. School boards, states and the federal government all play a role in US education policy. But states in particular have the most power over public schools within their borders. That's because public education in this country is traditionally funded by property taxes which are not federal in nature, but they're state and local based. School boards can set their own policy but when states pass laws related to public schools they are obligated to adopt them.

If they don’t, they risk... Funding, funding, funding all the way. That's a threat that hangs over our heads pretty consistently. And I mean, we can't function without that funding. Typically, the vast majority of public school funding comes from state and local governments. But a small portion does come from the federal government mostly through programs related to equity. Like for students with disabilities and for students living in poverty.

These kinds of resources augment what's available from state and local funds. Even though this slice is small any school that receives “federal financial assistance” is beholden to Title IX the 1972 federal civil rights law that, for 50 years, has ensured that there is no “discrimination” “on the basis of sex.” And for public schools, the federal agencies that enforce Title IX compliance are tied to whoever is in the White House.

And the past three administrations have differed in their interpretation of Title IX. The Obama administration ruled that it protects LGBTQ students. But the Trump administration reversed it. And the Biden administration restored it again. That’s why today, in 2022, it is a violation of federal civil rights law to discriminate against LGBTQ students in public schools which could make a school district liable to a federal investigation while some states, who control most school funding, have passed laws contrary to that.

So school districts have to figure out what to do. And so do the families of trans students. I would say it puts us in limbo because while we feel heard and appreciated by the local board the state is still saying that they're not welcome. So what do you do? It makes all of us want to move. I get a little fuzzy about some of it because the federal law says that you cannot do this that that supersedes the state laws. But yet they still do it and then they cite Governor Lee's bills as a reason to discriminate.

In states like Tennessee, this legal limbo could eventually be solved by a lawsuit or federal civil rights investigation that could overturn a state law. There is already a federal lawsuit on behalf of a trans teen boy in Tennessee suing to play on the boys’ golf team. And there’s a federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s bathroom law. But those won’t necessarily change things outside of Tennessee. The institution with the power to do that nationally and that could force harmony with federal, state and local policy would be the Supreme Court.

But if those rulings don’t come out in favor of trans students the last line of defense will continue to be those closest to them. Teachers are going to be a big part of saving kids' lives. Depending on just how willing they are to be supportive, to be affirming. School has always been that one place where we can hopefully find somebody who will love us and value us for who we are. Is there anything else you'd like to add, just about your personal experience?

I could share one thing with you. I came across this. Last weekend was Pride. She was very excited. This is what she sees, right? There she is. And there's all these people supporting the flag and they're, you know, giving her hearts and fireworks. And I'm so thankful that this is how she feels. I can't imagine that if she did end up going to schools or being put into a situation where she wasn't supported and celebrated, that this would not be the case.

I mean, this is clearly the world that you've created for her. I am not very good at taking credit for things, but I'm pretty proud.