A recent decision by the US Court of Appeals, 4th circuit, confirmed that transgender students should be able to use the bathroom that is consistent with their gender identity.
This is the right decision. I think of a family friend, who spends every day worrying about whether his transgender child will still be alive at the end of each day. I think about some of the young transgender Vermonters I have met, who struggled with anger and frustration, until they were able to transition to an identity that fit their knowledge of themselves, and allowed them to live a coherent life. I think of parents of transgender children who say simply: “my child just wants to live and be happy. “
What all these people have in common is a desire that their children, like other children, feel safe to be themselves, whoever they are, and not afraid that their identity will cause other people to do them harm. That is a core right of all our Vermont students. No Vermonter should fear that his or her identity-- whether sexual, racial, linguistic or cultural—should lead others to do him or her harm.