Another school bans a trans-student from using the name that they go by during graduation and refuses to have their name in the yearbook.
Pennsylvania School District Refuses to Change Policies on Transgender StudentsThis is not the first time that the school’s administrators dug in their heels, back in April they refused to let him run for Prom King and warned him about bring a girl to the prom as his date.
ACLU Press Release
May 6, 2013
RED LION, Pa. – The Red Lion Area School District (RLASD) has refused to change its policy regarding transgender candidates for prom court, nor will it agree to allow transgender students to use a name at graduation to match their gender identity, according to a letter from the school district's solicitor.
RLASD's treatment of its transgender students became an issue last month after a male transgender student, Issak Wolfe, was denied the chance to run for prom king when his principal placed his female birth name in the column for "prom queen" despite repeated requests to be listed in accordance with his gender identity.
Principal Also Threatened to Bar Student's Girlfriend From Prom for Criticizing Him OnlineBut it seems it is only the school’s administration that has a problem with him,
ACLU Press Release
April 26, 2013
RED LION, Pa. – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Pennsylvania sent a letter today on behalf of a male transgender student who was denied the chance to run for prom king when his principal placed his female birth name in the column for "prom queen" despite repeated requests to be listed under his correct gender identity.
Principal Mark Shue of Red Lion Area Senior High School also threatened to bar Issak Wolfe from attending prom with his girlfriend, who is an alumnus of the school, after she posted statements and a petition online supporting Wolfe. The prom is scheduled for this Saturday, April 27.
Wolfe has been going by Issak since his junior year of high school, and his teachers and friends call him by that name. He approached school faculty several times in the weeks prior to prom and was assured he'd be listed as Issak on the ballot for prom king. After the fact, he was told that the principal "wasn't comfortable" listing him as a candidate for king, and had the listing changed to the prom queen side of the ballot without warning.Whatever it was, it seems like everyone was okay with his transition but then there was an abrupt change. It seems like the teachers and faculty did not have any problems with his transition until the principal stepped in to veto the faculty. I can’t help but think that there are outside influences that resulted in the school officials taking the hardline against him. Did some parents complain? Was it the result of religious beliefs? Did an outside organization complain?
[…]
"Issak is accepted by his family, teachers, and peers for who he is," said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "He had no reason to expect to be treated differently by school officials, and Shue's efforts to silence Issak and Taylor and suppress their First Amendment rights are completely inappropriate and unconstitutional."
And reading a story like this doesn't give the whole picture, either. You're right, there has to be some kind of outside pressure.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost positive there was a complaint from at least one parent that started the issue. I live in PA and I know the sort of people who live in this area of the state.
ReplyDeletePA currently has a bill in both the state house and senate that would bar discrimination for the reasons of sexual orientation and gender identity. (Yes. We are so backwards that it is legal to discriminate against LGBT people here.) I wonder if the passage of such legislation would prevent this sort of thing from happening. I certainly hope it would.