Community members and the Philadelphia School District showed support after President Donald Trump rescinded protections for transgender students Wednesday. The Trump administration, in conjunction with the Departments of Justice and Education, lifted the guidance former President Barack Obama issued in May 2016 that enabled students to use facilities in accordance with their gender identity.
“This act shows a lack of compassion and understanding for millions of young people around the country who are simply trying to be themselves,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. “It also sends a cruel and harmful message that puts transgender students’ well-being and safety at risk. All students, including transgender youth, should have an equal opportunity at school to succeed in their education. The City of Philadelphia will continue to stand with transgender students even if the federal government refuses to.”
Newly appointed Director of LGBT Affairs Amber Hikes said in a statement that the “decision by the White House sets the stage for further marginalization and discrimination against transgender youth in schools across the country.”
“I’m proud to stand up with Mayor Kenney, the School District and PCHR [Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations] to denounce this action and look forward to working with them to strengthen our protections for transgendered youth,” Hikes said.
The School District of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia School District currently operates Policy 252, entitled “Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students.” This policy provides guidelines for pronouns, restrooms, physical-education programs, dress codes and other areas for students. It also constitutes a student’s transgender identity, legal name or sex assigned at birth as confidential medical information.
In a statement, School District Superintendent William Hite said Trump’s announcement “will not change any school district policy or city law that protects our students.”
“The School District of Philadelphia remains a safe and welcoming place of inclusion for all our students,” Hite said. “Every student deserves to know their rights will be recognized and upheld at school.”
Rachel Holzman, the district’s deputy chief for student rights and responsibilities, helped draft Policy 252 but noted that youth were instrumental in making it a reality last year.
“We always had a practice of nondiscrimination based on sexual identity, sexual preference, gender identity — perceived or known,” Holzman said. “It’s not about bathrooms. It’s about protecting students. We think it’s very important to continually bring that point back so we can keep our eye on what’s important here.”
The district’s chief of student support services, Karyn Lynch, noted that parents also were influential in the development of the policy.
“We had a call today from a parent who wanted to know, in light of what the executive branch has determined to do, the position the school district would take and when we clarified that we would obviously stay the course, the parent was absolutely delighted,” Lynch said.
Support from the city
In a statement, PCHR Executive Director Rue Landau mentioned the Fair Practices Ordinance (FPO), the city’s anti-discrimination law. Under this law, all schools must allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. That stipulation has been in place since 2002 when gender identity was added to the FPO.
“We want all students in Philadelphia to know that they are still protected,” Landau said.
In the same statement, trans activist Deja Lynn Alvarez encouraged transgender students to report any violations to PCHR.
“We are lucky to have strong laws in Philadelphia, but outside of the city, forcing students to use bathrooms that correspond to their birth gender is harmful to our trans youth and discriminatory,” Alvarez said. “Just as bigots and racists feel empowered, we must be empowered to stand up for not only our rights but our children’s rights and their very lives.”
What’s next?
The Pennsylvania Youth Congress has a forthcoming report on what is being done in all 500 school districts in Pennsylvania to protect trans students. Since Obama issued the federal guidance in May, eight of those districts updated their nondiscrimination policies to be trans-inclusive.
The report also found that only 6 percent of Pennsylvania public school districts have policies protecting transgender students. Additionally, only 4 percent of Pennsylvania school districts prohibit harassment on the basis of gender identity and expression.
Pennsylvania Youth Congress Executive Director Jason Landau Goodman said the full findings of the report will be made public in the spring.
“It gives us a crucial understanding of where the landscape is so we know where we can encourage future development,” Goodman said of the report.
Goodman noted Philadelphia’s support of transgender students but also mentioned the need to focus on other areas.
“There’s always a need to continue with implementation of these policies,” he said. “We cannot forget how many vulnerable trans students are not in Philadelphia. That’s the work that I think really needs to come together. We have to start supporting each other regardless of our school district. We’re all working toward the goal of supporting all students wherever we are.”
PGN will update this story as it develops.