Cal Thompson, 1st period - Temporary Halt of Directive In Favor of Transgender Rights Within Public Schools

This article, published by USA Today on August 22, 2016, explains the temporary halt of the Obama Administration's recent directive for transgender bathroom usage in public schools. This directive threatened to cease federal funding of schools that refused to allow transgender students to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity rather than the gender they were assigned at birth based upon biological sex. A Texas federal judge backed school districts who were against this directive, saying that the directive was not backed by previous rulings concerning sexism and separate facilities for males and females, and that the public's input was not received before the implementation of this directive. The article also states that this directive would have presented consequences for school officials refusing to use the preferred pronouns of students.

The article presents arguments from both sides of this issue, but the concluding remarks from individuals in favor of the implementation of this directive presents a sympathetic view on transgender rights. As a member of the transgender community myself, I am disappointed. This directive would have made life far easier for me and the rest of the trans community. However, I am also disappointed that such feeble efforts appear to have been made to insure that this directive was resistant to reproach. Passing it without getting public feedback gave room for a somewhat reasonable opposing argument. Without this key detail, the opposition would have primarily had transphobic - although often legally correct - rebuttals at their disposal (such as the argument that transgender individuals are not protected from discrimination based on their identity as transgender). The fact that this directive was temporarily stopped right before the beginning of school is but another loss for the transgender community. I must commend this reporter, however, for providing an almost entirely neutral account. The reference to other "legal setback[s] for transgender rights" in the past month present the rights of transgender individuals as something being fought for and harshly opposed, incurring sympathy for transgender rights (not that I need to be convinced, of course). I am reminded by this article of a very recent experience in which a friend saw me exit the woman's restroom, laughed, said "that's interesting," and then went on to tell me that he would be "disgusted" were he to see me in the men's room. There is a certain mindset that we are put into which causes us to continually put more emphasis on someone's genitalia than on their gender identity and gender expression. I am trans, but the part that sticks out when I explain this is not that I prefer male pronouns, but rather that I was assigned female at birth. This article relates to the past's constant oppression of minority groups, from the idea that women and people of color were property to the assertion that Native American groups needed to be controlled by Europeans for their own good. Now, however, arguments against minorities tend to be more subtle. Instead of simply saying that they are inherently worthless, it is implied that their gender identity can serve as a negative impact upon the learning environment of other students. Women who are harassed are often ridiculed for their attire, and women in burquas are automatically labeled as oppressed. History shows many instances of the teaching that we must fear those who are different, from Adolf Hitler's propaganda against Judaism and labeling of Jews, people of color, and gays to the titling of native Irish people and Natve Americans as "savages."

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