The Rights of Transgender Students
A conservative Christian legal group has asked the Pennsbury School District not to hide the gender or pronoun changing of their students. After parents confronted the Bucks County School District, the district gave the student’s given name at graduation but did not change its policy to require the school to inform parents of any pronoun changes or that their child is transgender. I think most parents would have already started a conversation with their student if they have open communications.
Richard Mast, a staff attorney with Liberty Counsel brought cases favoring religious liberty and opposing LGBTQ+ rights. Recall that Trump set the stage for all LQBTQ+ rights to be put in jeopardy in his administration by proclaiming “we will have only male and female”.
The ethical dilemma is the issue of whether schools should be mandated to inform parents of their child’s use of different pronouns or that they are transgender. The other side of the argument is articulated by Kristina Moon, a senior attorney at the Education Law Center, a Philadelphia-based group that advocates for LGBTQ+ students. She said that students “need to feel safe to be themselves in school. She worries schools are getting a very harmful message that students’ need to have a sense of belonging and would be targeted by the Trump Administration.”
Lower Merions’s policy states “school personnel should not disclose information about a transgender student to parents/legal guardians unless required to do so.” It requires the student to be told to let parents know after getting permission from the student.
The ethical decision rests on private and public domain issues. Does the student possess privacy between the school and the parents. In essence, what are the parents’ rights and what are the students’ rights?
Here is my position on transgender people and the rights of a student versus the rights of the parents. I will start with the most compelling argument of why students’ pronouns and/or transgender identity should be reported to parents. What are the parents’ rights to their transgender son or daughter’s information who identify as such in the school environment? First, there is another side of the debate that assumes that call or statement home should be honored.
The assumption is that it would not be a caring or helpful response from parents. In terms of my working with students who identify as transgender is that ultimately the parents will be the fundamental support system for their child.
My belief that the spectrum of sexual identity includes transgender people. They face challenges at being transgender. One parent told me that “her daughter smiled for the first time as a teenager” when her son made public that he is a transgendered girl. The adage that “we tolerate what we understand becomes a pivotal ethical ingredient.”
What I do not advocate is having major biological changes such as surgery and the administration of drugs such as hormones because adolescents may make changes of sexual orientation and need the time until they are 18 to claim that distinction. I know that the downside of that perspective is that it may be difficult to have a sense of belonging with parents or friends and acquaintances if their transgender identity is not known.
I also believe that male transgender students should not be in competition with heterosexual boys or girls. This is because I am pro women and believe in a level playing field in competitions. Lea Thomas, a swimmer at Penn, swam at Penn in the male 200 swimmers’ event and was 554th. She won the event as a senior in complete transition from male to female. Those statistics should tell the whole story. We don’t know exactly how much stronger one becomes taking testosterone and estrogen as part of her transition.
Here is the legal definition of parents’ and students’ rights at the college level. It indicates that by and large parents generally have all legal rights in secondary education but not in college. The video below describes the rights of parents in college regarding their student’s information.
I believe that the success of students in secondary education is made better when there is a close working relationship between parents and the school. This is based on the fundamental fact that the parents either know the gender status of their child or be the best persons to provide the necessary support.
For example, I believe it is still in place that our school that the contract indicates we are accepting both the parents and the student. This means that their child is in jeopardy of being removed or suspended if the parents embarrassed the school in a public way.
I remember one situation where a famous person came to the interview session regarding possible admission for his son to our school. There were questions asked of the father who stayed on his cell phone throughout the entire meeting. We would have admitted the son, but the father was so impolite that we didn’t admit his child.
When I was involved in the counseling of a student, I always let the student know that after 3 sessions with me I would be working to get his or her parents involved. I indicated to the student that they too should be thinking about how they wanted to inform the parents.
I NEVER talked with a student’s parents without treating students with the dignity of me letting them know. When I was setting up the advisory program which interfaced with psychologists on campus, I spent much time with a lawyer about rights of students and parents. I NEVER had a negative response from either parents or students by handling the communication issue as stated above. Trust is essential, and I needed to let the student know he could check in with me any time for support.
When I talked with faculty at the beginning of each academic year, I indicated to them that the only conversation they should have about anyone in the community should use the guideline of “on a need to know” basis. What can I say to another regarding others that it will make a situation better. This cut down on gossip, the snake (gossip) that hisses in dividing communities leading to hurt feelings among more than a few.
It is humorous to me that during my sons’ college education I never received their grades in the mail, but the bill always came to me and not to them. With rights come responsibilities.
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