Alexis Farrell, 5th Period: Illinois District Violated Transgender Student's Rights, U.S. Says

In Palatine, Illinois, a schol district violated anti-discrimination laws by not allowing a transgender student who identifies as a girl to participate on the girls' sports teams and to change/shower in the girls' locker room without limitations. The Office for the Civil Rights of the Department of Education stated that these actions were a violation of the student's rights under Title IX, a federal law banning sex discrimination. So, the district claimed that she could change in the locker but had to be behind a curtain. Then, the girl and the federal government stated that she would decide to change voluntarily. This case was different than most transgender cases because the district continued to insist on unequal rights for the transgender student sending a message to schools struggling with the same issue.

Although this is not the same situation, in 1840, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a member of the women's right's movement. She advocated for women's suffrage at the first Women's Right's Convention at Seneca Falls. There, she presented the "Declaration of Sentiments" proclaiming that "all men and women are created equal." Stanton basically used the Declaration of Independence to argue for the rights of women. After a lot of determined individuals pleaded their case, this led to the nineteenth amendment: women's suffrage. The Obama administration is pushing to expand gender rights in workplaces and prisons so hopefully one day it will lead to something similar to the nineteenth amendment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/us/illinois-district-violated-transgender-students-rights-us-says.html?_r=0