The Fox News headline “Students Who Refuse to Affirm Transgender Classmates Face Punishment” sets the stage for this “Cultural War” against trans people written by Todd Starnes.
Deconstructing Fox lies.
The headline of Starnes article is a lie. There is no wording in the new policy mentioning disciplinary actions of any kind.
Todd Starnes writes “The new rules would also prevent teachers and administrators from telling parents with which gender their child identifies.”
That’s a lie. According to the Massachusetts Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity the school will be empowered to formulate a plan with the student to inform others that is in the best interest of the student providing the student is over the age of 14 or has entered the 9th grade. If the student is younger than that the students parents should be automatically be brought into the conversation to help formulate the plan.
Fox used the vitriol of a hate group to validate this hate filled screed:
“The Massachusetts Family Institute denounced the new rules calling them a violation of privacy.”
“Fundamentally, boys need to be using the boys’ room and girls need to be using the girls’ rooms, and we base that on their anatomical sex, not some sort of internalized gender identity,” said Andrew Beckwith, the institute’s general counsel.”
“Beckwith told Fox News the new policy has a “very broad standard that is ripe for abuse.”
We hear this tripe from haters, the door will be left open for predators. What a heap of trash.
Here’s what the new policy says about public accommodations:
Fox isn’t done with Beckwith yet pandering to the fears of haters saying:
“And any student who refuses to refer to a transgendered student by the name or sex they identify with could face punishment.
For example – a fifth grade girl might feel uncomfortable using the restroom if there is an eighth grade transgendered boy in the next stall.
Under the state guidelines, the girl would have no recourse, Beckwith said.
“And if the girl continued to complain she could be subjected to discipline for not affirming that student’s gender identity choice,” he told Fox News.”
“It should not be tolerated and can be grounds for student discipline,” the directive states
That is a bold faced italicized lie.
Again the policy was posted earlier in the article. There are is no mention of discipline or course of actions laid out if and when a child’s gender expression is challenged.
Then gym came up. the directive suggests:
So there it is. You can read the full Fox screed Here.
[alert type=”info”]Cross-posted from PlanetTransgender[/alert]
What the scare tactic fails to recognise is that there are people assigned at birth as boys whom are not big and whom are also volnerable going into “boy’s” restrooms too. How many stories do we here of assaults in boy’s restrooms too… For that matter, the attacks in “girl’s” restrooms.. The issue should be safety in bathrooms, and not gender segregating people by a gender class system, which limits everyone from achieving thier full potential. In my opinion, if there is to be any segregation, it would be better to do it by hieght and weight, as to limit the smaller kids from being bullied and assaulted in bathrooms and/or locker changing room areas. And perhaps it is about time to provide better privacy for all kids when using bathroom, changing, or taking shower???
I am a trans woman teacher who transitioned two years ago at a Massachusetts High school. I’ve had only a few issues with harassment coming from students. The teachers and faculty were very supportive. I followed a self imposed protocol which entailed informing colleagues and administrators that my transition occured as a result of a psychological evaluative and legal process which confirmed my gender identity. Although the Mass Family Institute is alarmist and wrong about almost everything, I do think there should be a protocol which involves some level of gatekeeping. At a minimum, school psychologists or counselors should be involved as a formal part of the process. Parents should at least have an opportunity to participate. I realize that there are cases where parents may disagree with a child’s decision and/or be potentially harmful in their actions towards the child’s best interests. In those case there should be a procedure of legal due process implemented in overriding a parent’s decision. Certainly it is better to enlist a parent’s support rather than to automatically wrest their authority from their children. We should not create laws which disenfranchise parents. This kind of action only helps the extremist religious zealots who oppose recognition of LGBT agenda/rights/personhood.
Fox News and Massachusetts Family Institute Slam New Student Transgender Policy http://t.co/WeqRyylf55
Via @transadvocate: Fox News and Massachusetts Family Institute Slam New Student Transgender Policy http://t.co/3oZ29wCQ78 #trans #lgbtqia