A CALL TO PROTECT TRANS STUDENTS
BY MATTY BROWN
Christina Sets Precedent for Protections for Trans Youth The following is the first installment of a three-part series on the Christina School District’s protections for trans youth in Delaware schools.
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arlier this year, the Christina School District enacted a new policy protecting transgender students within this northern Delaware public school district. The policy addresses protections concerning a student’s name/pronoun identification, and the use of bathrooms and facilities according to the student’s gender identity. It also covers the practice of using students’ legal names for parents unless specified and deferring all athletics to the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA), which generally allows athletes to compete on the team that matches their gender identity. The policy comes after the failed Regulation 225, which was met with resistance from conservative groups when introduced in 2018. Those tribulations make Christina’s policy a sweet little victory, and a remarkable precedent for statewide change in Delaware. “I think it is a sign of progress,” said Andrea Rashbaum, a mother of a trans child. See more in her LGBTQ+ YA column on page 50. Another advocate and mother of a trans child, who chose to remain anonymous, also sees the new policy as a step in the right direction. “Now we have a precedent in one district, where somebody has codified what is already the law,” she said. “We have something to point to with Christina.” Across many of the state’s districts, trans students are not explicitly protected under any guidelines, including in Cape Henlopen School District. The lack of formal policy leaves room for bullying, discrimination, and insecurity among one of the most vulnerable communities in Letters 24 APRIL 16, 2021
schools. It should be a simple truth: trans youth deserve protections, and safety in their classrooms. “We can’t be the only state without guidance,” said the advocating mother, who recently moved back to Delaware having grown up here. “It’s deeply embarrassing.” Notably, Delaware is currently surrounded by states and districts that have guidelines for trans students, including Maryland, DC, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania’s bordering district. The recognition of those protections trace back to 2016 with the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX, widening the scope of the law’s protection against sex-based discrimination to include transgender students. The administration sent a letter to districts nationwide outlining this interpretation, yet many districts still did not subscribe. Ultimately, Cape Henlopen School District opted to judge the protections on a case-by-case basis. That lack of clarity demanded more explicit action in Delaware, leading to Regulation 225. Ordered by Gov. John Carney in 2017, the proposed law attempted to make explicit protections against gender-based discrimination. Rashbaum, who is also an English teacher in Delaware, worked on the team drafting the regulation. “It was very disappointing to see how far we’ve come, with the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage, and the state of Delaware saying that LGBTQ people have rights, and that transgender adults have rights in the workplace. And yet we’re not protecting our most vulnerable population, which is the kids who can’t always advocate for themselves,” said Rashbaum. Part of the problem for Rashbaum was not seeing enough queer youth representation on the committee. “That’s why it’s so important to know who your community is,” said Barbara Antlitz, Youth Coordinator with CAMP Rehoboth’s YOUTH Up program since
2019. Since that time, Antlitz has worked to establish Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) in Kent and Sussex County schools, providing opportunities to bring LGBTQ+ youth together and share their voices. “Bringing the youth to the table is really imperative to hear their voices and give them active roles in the solution,” said Antlitz. The road to progress is often derailed by the opposition’s tendency to focus on one issue. A few years ago, a fixation on bathrooms sparked national debate, turning the conversation from human rights into a discussion about deviant behavior. But according to Rashbaum, “the things that stand out to people, like bathrooms and locker rooms, are not what necessarily stand out to the youth, and not necessarily what stands out to each individual trans student.” For Regulation 225, the momentum was halted by groups demanding parental consent, since the law would have allowed students to use a different name at school than at home. For Rashbaum, that issue boils down to concerns over safety for the trans child. “How can I put a child in a situation where there might be some sort of verbal abuse, neglect, physical abuse, or being thrown out of home? How can I—if a child tells me they’re afraid to tell their parents—how, as a mandatory reporter, can I knowingly put them in a harmful situation?” asks Rashbaum. As an educator, Rashbaum defers to her responsibility as a mandatory reporter, a duty that calls teachers to report instances of neglect up the chain. With that in mind, putting the student in danger isn’t a viable option. Indeed, it isn’t safe for every trans or non-binary student to come out at home. There, trans youth often face a lack of understanding at best, and neglect at worst. Trans students may still encounter reparative or conversion therapies, usually faith-based treatments, that the