http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/federal-officials-protect-transgender-student-against-discri (http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/federal-officials-protect-transgender-student-against-discri)
Author: Chris Geidner Source:BuzzFeed
"School districts cannot discriminate against transgender students without violating federal law, Education and Justice department officials stated Wednesday in a settlement agreement resolving a complaint filed on behalf of a transgender student who faced discrimination in middle school." The Department extended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which bans sex discrimination, to include transgender students to the definitions in the Education Amendments.
"Under the settlement agreement announced Wednesday, the Arcadia Unified School District in California will make several system-wide changes to address anti-transgender discrimination, but officials also will change the way they treat the transgender male student who brought the complaint — steps aimed at "treat[ing] the student like all other male students" in the district."
The student at the heart of the complaint is an FTM ninth grader who is accepted by his peers as male but was barred from using the men's restroom and locker rooms at school, and to share a cabin with the other boys on a school camping trip.
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While this settlement agreement is not legally binding, the arguments and reasoning cited by the Department can likely be applied to future cases.
This one really hits close to home, about 3 blocks to be exact. The schools are actually very good academically, but the community leadeship that sets the social policies does not get adequate community supervision, and as a result special interest groups have a pull they would not have otherwise.