TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
Can a transgender student use whichever bathroom they want
to? Tucson Unified School District officials said yes, the district's
discrimation policy was revised this week to add the word "gender"
into it. TUSD officials said, as per policy, students could use whichever
bathroom they felt they identified with, in terms of a gender.
Many parents at Anna Henry Elementary school on the east side were
fired up after a recent incident that they said made their children
uncomfortable.
Susan Wright said her 10-year old son was using the urinal when a
student he identified as a female walked in on him. Concerned parent
Danya Ayers said she knew of another incident where a boy was very
uncomfortable after a child he knew as a girl removed her underpants in front
of him.
"My son won't even let me go in the bathroom with him, he
won't let a female teacher go in with him, this did not make him
comfortable," said Wright.
TUSD officials held a meeting at Anna Henry Elementary to discuss transgender
student issues. The district spent over $1,000 to hire national experts
to discuss what being a transgender meant. The experts would also train
staff members and act as consultants.
Our news cameras were not allowed inside the meeting.
Officials said they wanted parents to feel comfortable enough to ask
questions. We were allowed to sit in and take notes.
The meeting got heated when parents questioned the bathroom policy. The
transgender experts said they were not there to discuss school board
policy. Many parents said they wanted to know what the school planned to
do about the bathrooms.
On the opposing side, several parents spoke up and said they were
interested in hearing from the experts. One parent said "If your
child is not comfortable using the bathroom, ask them to use the alternative
bathroom,".
School officials tried to ease the tension by telling parents they
would answer questions about the bathroom policy after the speakers were done.
Parents spoke to us outside, before and after the meeting.
"It's a privacy
issue. It's not a gay or a lesbian issue. If that were the case, I
would despise my cousin my uncle that has absolutely nothing to do with
it," said concerned parent Sharah Gray.
School officials said,
they had temporarily addressed the issue by blocking off all the male urinals
in the boys bathrooms, telling students to use the stalls. The plan was
to put partitions between all of the urinals.
We asked officials if
this was something they planned to do at every TUSD school. Officials
said they did not know, the issue was new and it would be something they would
have to address.
"I think making
everything an individual stall is brilliant," said parent Shannon
Twilling.
Other parents thought
the issue was more complex and would open up a whole can of worms.
"I mean, what's
next? The next thing you know it's not just bathrooms, it's
locker rooms, it's showers. Having two boys, I would not feel
comfortable with them showering next to a fully developed female."
"It's a
privacy issue, it's a safety issue. Some students are just not
comfortable with it," added Ayers.
Carol Grimsby, Executive
Director of Wingspan said she was glad to see TUSD taking up the issue and
trying to educate the community.
"I would like to
make a statement about the children saying they were uncomfortable. The
reality is the parents were uncomfortable. The child saying that they
were uncomfortable is taught that by their parents or the adult who is
mentoring them, " said Grimsby.
Many parents left the
meeting feeling uneasy and unsatisfied with TUSD's response to the issue.
School officials said they were still discussing how they would handle matters
for the district as a whole.
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