Hartwood Elementary School in Stafford County, Virginia has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy since a decision earlier this year to allow a transgendered student to use the restroom they identified with instead of the restroom that matched their biological equipment.
On March 25th, the school board reversed that decision, but did make other provisions to accommodate the student.
William Howell, the Stafford County representative to and speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, said in April “The Stafford County School Board made the right decision for our community. This is a perfect example of why we need to emphasize local control when it comes to education. These kind of decisions should be made by our community and local leaders, not President Obama’s Department of Justice”
The Justice Department has officially disagreed.
A Gloucester student filed suit in December to gain accommodation for their gender identity, and the ACLU took up the case. The DOJ released a statement affirming that the case merit under Title IX, stating in part “prohibiting a student from accessing the restrooms that match his gender identity is prohibited sex discrimination under Title IX. There is a public interest in ensuring that all students, including transgender students, have the opportunity to learn in an environment free of sex discrimination.”
Parents in both districts are frustrated with this turn of events. While some expressed concern at growing governmental presence in their lives, others are concerned over more basic matters – like their children’s well-being.
As one elementary father put it, “If someone is anatomically male, I don’t want them in the bathroom with my daughter.”
A mother expressed concern over the problem of menstruation, and how the presence of a male in the restrooms would impact what is already a difficult time for young girls experiencing it for the first time.
Another Hartwood parent, Eric Kingston, pointed out darker potential consequences. “We have now opened the door for any predatory individual to claim this gender identity to enter the restroom of the opposite sex and prey upon our children behind closed doors,” he said.
Proponents of allowing transgendered students to choose which restroom they use have predictably returned to the well of the black civil rights movement, falsely equating the battle over bathrooms to segregation.
Aston Haughton, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, is one of them. “It wasn’t long ago that school boards were debating issues that were similar to this one,” said Haughton. “African–American kids weren’t able to attend the same schools as white kids. And what we need to do now is take a step back and take a look at the situation and let the School Board follow the federal laws.”
So again the media and the Obama administration are conspiring to drive a false narrative, and will again use patently fabricated claims of uniting to divide and conquer the American public.
In the meantime, of course your sons and daughters will be safe at school – right?
