At Fort Worth schools’ first forum on transgender rules, overwhelming opposition
The Fort Worth school district’s transgender policy was the object of ardent opposition Tuesday during a public forum in which participants said they fear predators will exploit the rules to abuse girls and that boys will say they are transitioning just so they can peek at girls.
About 60 people attended the event at Dunbar High School, the first of six public forums.
“We are here to listen to your comments,” Superintendent Kent Scribner told the audience in the school auditorium before the speakers took to the microphone. “I am confident that we are following the law.”
Input from the forums may be used to revisit the issue or clarify wording in the guidelines.
Twenty-three people spoke Tuesday night, 22 of them passionately against the guidelines. They cited fears that men would go into the girls’ restroom and molest young victims. They blasted school officials for not including parents and community members in the process. Many referred to the Bible or their Christian beliefs.
“Did you all even pray and ask God about this?” asked Cytha Lacy, who opposes the guidelines. “In the name of Jesus, he does not like this at all. A girl is born a girl and a boy is born a boy.”
The series of public forums came on the heels of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick launching another verbal attack on Scribner and the district. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Patrick announced that he is seeking an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about the legality of the Fort Worth guidelines.
Last week, Texas and other states sued the federal government over guidelines that allow transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
Critics have called for the Fort Worth district’s guidelines to be abandoned and for Scribner to resign on the grounds that he didn’t consult the community when the guidelines were drafted. Those sentiments were echoed Tuesday night.
Vaughn Durham, who lives near Dunbar, said the forums were worthless because they came after the school board had already approved the guidelines.
“They are nothing but knuckleheads — especially Scribner,” Durham said.
Michael Wilborn, a Dunbar alum, said too many people didn’t know about the forums. He said people need to be included in the process.
“We the people have been silenced,” he said. “We have been ignored.”
The guidelines have been praised by many members of the LGBT community in North Texas, who say they address the civil rights of transgender people.
The only person to speak up Tuesday for transgender issues was Taylor Crisler, a University of North Texas student who attended the forum as part of a homework assignment. He was moved to speak by discussion that testosterone-driven males will use the guidelines to enter the girls’ restroom and that transgender people should have their own restrooms.
“I think that is straight segregation,” Crisler said of the latter.
The Fort Worth guidelines differ from the federal ones. In a section on restrooms, the federal guidelines state: “A school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex but must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity.”
The Fort Worth guidelines don’t have the same language but offer protection for transgender and other students, assuring that they can use a restroom where they “feel comfortable and safe.” That could include a single-stall restroom, a gender-neutral restroom “or the opportunity to visit the facility when other students are not present,” according to guidelines announced at an April 24 board meeting.
School leaders considered language closer to the federal guidelines but took a different approach, said Michael Steinert, assistant superintendent of student support services.
Steinert said boys can’t simply exploit the guidelines to access the girls’ room or vice versa. That would be considered a violation of the student code of conduct, he explained.
Since about 1999, there have been 10 to 15 instances in which a campus, staff or principal worked to accommodate a transgender student’s privacy, Steinert said. That typically involves working out a situation in which a student can use a private restroom — for example a restroom in a nurse’s office or single-user restroom.
“We try to make sure they have at least two choices,” he said.
Steinert said the district doesn’t have a list of how many students in Fort Worth schools are transgender. He said that is private information; schools don’t keep tabs on students by their gender identity or sexual orientation.
“I can’t tell you how many homosexual kids we have,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many heterosexual kids there are.”
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Diane A. Smith: 817-390-7675, @dianeasmith1
Transgender policy forums: If you go
- Wednesday: Polytechnic High School, 1300 Conner Ave., hosted by board members Tobi Jackson and T.A. Sims.
- Thursday: Paschal High School, 3001 Forest Park Blvd., hosted by board member Matthew Avila.
- Monday: Arlington Heights High School, 4501 West Freeway, hosted by Trustees Judy Needham and Norm Robbins.
- June 7: North Side High School, 2211 McKinley Ave., hosted by school board President Jacinto Ramos.
- June 9: South Hills High School, 6101 McCart Ave., hosted by Trustee Ann Sutherland.
This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 9:51 PM with the headline "At Fort Worth schools’ first forum on transgender rules, overwhelming opposition."