WEBSTER, N.Y. (CITC) — A New York mom is accusing her daughter's school district of prioritizing the comfort of transgender students over that of their classmates.
The mom, Andrea, recounted her daughter's alleged experience to the Webster Central School District (Webster) school board at its most recentmeeting. She claims her daughter and several friends expressed "extreme" discomfort with a transgender student using the girls' locker room, something permitted under the school district's adaptation of state guidance.
"Why did you not think to notify families before making this decision?" the mom asked. "I understand you use FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act] when it's convenient, but it should not trump safety."
Andrea went on to say that she and the biologically female students raised the incident to district administration. The students were allegedly advised to "find an area with a curtain or a stall with doors in the girls' locker room."
So, my daughter and the majority of the girls have to be displaced for this one student?" Andrea asked. "Why is the privacy and safety concerns of these girls so irrelevant?The mom claims Webster administration attempted to "circumvent" families by meeting with the students to discuss the incident unbeknownst to any parents. Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) reached out to Webster for comment and to confirm Andrea's allegations, but did not immediately receive a response.
"What is it going to take to remove biological males from ladies' rooms? One rape? Two rapes? Multiple rapes?" Andrea asked. "We have already seen this backfire across the country and many states are banning this practice because of the actions of some of these students in this very situation."
One state where families are echoing Andrea's fears is Virginia, where an independent review into the handling of sexual assault cases in Loudoun County Public Schools (Loudoun County) was recently released. In 2021, a biologically male student, who was allegedly wearing a skirt at the time, sexually assaulted a female student in a girls' bathroom.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has been outspoken over the controversy in Loudoun County, released updated model school policies in July. The model policies suggest, among other things, that students use bathrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex.
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This summer, parents' rights advocates voiced outrage over a policy in Virginia's Albemarle County Public Schools they felt also prioritized transgender students' privacy over their classmates. The policy states that any student's "discomfort" with sharing a restroom or locker room with a transgender classmate is "not a reason to deny access" to the transgender student.
When gender identity trumps biological sex, women are the losers," Alex Nester, an investigative fellow for advocacy group Parents Defending Education, told CITC. "The discomfort young women face when they’re forced to use the same restroom, locker room, or sports team as a biological boy has been absolutely ignored. Or worse, they’ve been shamed for feeling discomfort.ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmp5mknryvedaoqaWcX6PGbrnOpmSsmamoeqWt1KCfrZ2iqHqltdKcpqaen6fBbq%2FHmqWgoZ6ceri106FkraqRo8Buv9Oum56mpGK2qLrOq5ydZaedxm610mafnqpdpb%2BqwsCcsGahoqeyrbHVmqWtZZ6axG7FzquiZqqfmLWmv9OeqWavlZfAtbHRZqqcoJ%2BkuW6wyKyrq6GTqXq1vsCnqqCdnpmys3nLoJmtZZeau6Wx0Waorp2Vpw%3D%3D