ST. GEORGE — Sixteen community members took to the podium, many galvanized by an email they’d received from the Utah State Board of Education, eager to discuss the district’s transgender policies at the Feb. 8 Washington County School District Board of Education meeting.
The email survey gauged parents’ responses to the Standards and Assessment Committee of the Utah State Board of Education’s newly-drafted, 10-page manual offering Gender Identity Guidance for Utah Public Education (see editor’s note).
When finalized, the guidelines will be available to any district seeking direction on how to handle the growing number of students who identify as transgender. The board is currently sifting through over 20,000 public comments on the draft and plans to address the matter in the coming weeks.
The collection of policies emphasizes schools should accept “a student’s consistently asserted gender identity, even if the gender identity is different from the biological sex.” A transgender student claims this identity not by offering proof, the draft document notes, but by demonstrating their identification with the preferred gender is earnest and ongoing.
Once a trans student’s gender identity is established, the proposed guidance advises acceptance and inclusion. Teachers are also encouraged to call trans students by their preferred name and pronouns.
Trans students should be allowed to use restrooms that align with their gender identity, according to the guidelines. School staff are advised to acknowledge the right of trans students to participate in activities and clubs reserved for students of their preferred gender identity.
The guidelines don’t delve into whether transgender students should be able to participate on girls’ sports teams, perhaps because the issue is being hotly debated in the Utah Legislature.
“My biggest concern is watching the transgender questionnaire that came through asking for our opinions,” Emily Whitney said. “And, for me personally, just reading all the guidelines they want to put out there absolutely terrifies me.
“It makes me feel like we’re turning into California or some other state that are having a lot of severe problems,” she said of the guidelines.
Local dad Bryant Larson said he found one particular aspect of the proposed gender guidelines especially worrisome.
“It was in regard to the way that a student would complain if they felt uncomfortable because of a transgender child in the dressing room with them,” Larson said. “It was on the student who wasn’t transgender to complain. And I think that’s putting a tremendous responsibility on kids who in many cases are way too shy if they get offended.
Larson said he understood that it takes a lot of courage to go to school as a transgender kid but that they get a lot of support.
“Why can’t they make another dressing room for them? They know they’re different because they’ve felt that way. They’ve talked their way through it. They dress different. Let’s not put male body parts in the female body part dressing room, and let’s not put female body parts in the male body part dressing room.”
Parents urged to take complaints to the state level
Larry Bergeson, superintendent of the Washington County School District, also weighed in on the topic.
“Please know that’s a state board draft, so a lot of your comments really ought to go to them right now,” Bergeson said. “Hit the state board with those concerns as they’re drafting. It’s not even come to us yet, not that we’re not grateful to hear your concerns. But please don’t just say them here. Please share them with the state board at the same time, if you would.”
A couple of speakers said they have shared their concerns with the board. They recommended the district “lead out” by discussing the contentious topic of transgender students now, rather than wait until gender identity guidelines are handed down by the state.
“We’ve always been taught to start local first,” said Amanda Griffith, adding that her intent is not to marginalize LGBTQ students.
Still, she said she feels compelled to advocate for students like her daughter, who attended a local charter school for a couple of years.
“She came home one day and said that a transgender girl, meaning a biological male that was dressing in female clothing – including hair and makeup done as a girl – was in the bathroom stall next to her,” Griffith said. “As a young teenager with hormones and monthly issues, this made her feel very uncomfortable, knowing that someone with male genitalia was right through a thin partition wall from her in what should have been a girls’ bathroom.”
Griffith said the charter school wasn’t part of the Washington County School District but said it’s a situation that could occur at any school. She said when her daughter and a friend complained to the school administration, they were told they should use the teachers’ bathroom if they were uncomfortable.
“Excuse me? Isn’t this exactly opposite of what should have been suggested?” she said. “To appease a very small minority, they’re making the majority erased and sat on the back burner. Between this and other liberal issues that essentially ostracized my conservative-mindset daughter, she changed to Crimson Cliffs High School where she graduated last year.”
A couple of other parents expressed concern about what they see as an over-emphasis on the LGBTQ experience in schools, which they said can lead to confusion among impressionable young people. One woman spoke of a friend whose 14-year-old daughter was diagnosed with rapid onset gender dysphoria after she briefly identified as a boy last year.
“As I read more into this, I feel like a lot of these kids don’t know what to do,” Whitney said. “But there’s so much of the curriculum that is … wide-range that makes it almost cool or interesting. And stories are coming out of kids that want to try hormonal changes and stuff and then they go back and they’re infertile. They’re at risk for suicide and depression for the rest of their lives and they really never fully feel accepted.”
In defense of trans students
Cynthia Browning, a language arts teacher at Hurricane High School, said it’s a false narrative.
“There’s a lot of static and horror stories and all kinds of social media drivel out there with the worry that somehow there’s indoctrination, whether it’s … trying to indoctrinate students to be liberal or transgender or whatever,” Browning said. “I can tell you what I’ve seen in my classroom and other classrooms. There’s a lot of great teaching of literature, of better writing skills, of math, of science, of health, of psychology … I certainly don’t see anyone pushing anyone to be of a certain gender or sexuality.”
Browning said she finds it worrisome when people insist it’s the responsibility of a small group to adapt to the majority.
“Minorities, of all types, are more marginalized and we need to make sure that it is set in stone that they have the same protections as anyone else,” she said.
Amy Barton is president of the Washington County Education Association. She said she hadn’t yet seen the proposed policy.
“Our goal as teachers is always to support students where they’re at … emotionally, academically, and help them get what they need,” she said. “It’s not about making a judgement, right or wrong.”
In recent months, a growing number of conservative parents have spoken at school board meetings. Some are members of the parent advocacy group Utah Parents United, which tends to take a conservative stance on school issues. Members have expressed the desire that discussions on LGBTQ issues and sexuality in general, be largely kept out of school curricula and policies.
Steve Dunham, communications director for Washington County School District, said Utah Parents United does have an impact on board meeting discourse. For instance, the number of speakers from the group prompted the board to add additional time for public comment.
School district parents with a liberal bent haven’t formed a similar group, marked by solidarity. As a result, Barton said public discourse on LGBTQ issues is a bit one-sided.
“I think what we’re seeing with the level of engagement in school board meetings is great, but I also think we’re heavily seeing one segment of our community and, it would appear, ideologically, one set of viewpoints,” Barton said.
Student says stigma, stereotypes are harmful to trans kids
A senior at a district high school, who identified herself as a member of her campus’ LGBTQ+ community, said it’s damaging when people talk about trans students as though they are aggressors, likely to commit crimes and eager to “recruit” straight students.
“I am speaking today because I have to not only protect myself but my fellow community from further harm, even though I’m a child myself,” the teen said. “In several social media posts, several members of the Hurricane Community Facebook page stated that they want to prevent problems of ‘public schools brainwashing kids with harmful transgender ideology.’ Before the 20th century, being left-handed was viewed as satanic and inferior.”
The student also used the example of how many left-handed people were “forced to write with their right hands. When people stopped discriminating against them, the amount of lefties miraculously increased.” Additionally, the teen said, divorces were more common after 1969 “not because marriages got worse but because the stigma around divorce began to lessen.”
The mental health of not just the LGBTQ community but society as a whole also is worth noting, the teen said.
“Many people are in therapy, now more than ever before, not because people in the past didn’t need therapy but because the stigma around mental health counseling has declined, allowing more people to seek help instead of suffering in silence,” she said.
“Are you noticing a pattern? The rate of people identifying as LGBTQ had increased in recent years, not because there are more queer people than ever but because people feel more comfortable coming out. Students are not being brainwashed. They’re being more accepted and loved.”
State board of education filtering through 20,000-plus comments
The Utah State Board of Education released the following statement Wednesday:
The USBE’s initial plan was to discuss public feedback at a special Standards and Assessment Committee meeting tentatively scheduled for Feb. 23. However, due to the large volume of responses received, USBE is still completing the review of the feedback submitted.
One of USBE’s priorities is ensuring that all provided feedback is reviewed and considered. USBE received more than 20,000 public comments, which is far more than we had anticipated; in fact, it is the most feedback the agency has received through a public comment opportunity. While the agency is pleased to see this level of public engagement, the process of reviewing the feedback will take longer than was originally planned.
The Utah State Board of Education will be continuing the dialogue on this draft at the next open and public Board meeting on Friday, March 11, in the Standards and Assessment Committee.
Ed. note: On first publish, this report incorrectly identified the Utah Education Association, a union that represents teachers, as the organization drafting the Gender Identity Guidance for Utah Public Education. The guidance is, in fact, being drafted by the Standards and Assessment Committee of the Utah State Board of Education.
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