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| I suppose his hair is really purple also |
In a sharply worded ruling, the division concluded that the
Fountain-Fort Carson School District needlessly created a situation in
which the student, Coy Mathis, would be subject to "harassment" when it
barred "her" from the girls’ bathroom even though "she" clearly identified
as female.
Telling Coy “that "she" must disregard "her" identity while performing one
of the most essential human functions constitutes severe and pervasive
treatment, and creates an environment that is objectively and
subjectively hostile, intimidating or offensive,” Steven Chavez, the
division director, wrote in the decision. to see more about this guy read the link.
The dispute over whether Coy, 6, should be allowed to use the girls’
bathroom was seen by some as a critical test of how state
antidiscrimination laws were applied to transgender students.
Born biologically a boy, Coy began identifying as a girl after
just a few years, growing "her" wispy blond hair long, wearing dresses,
and telling family and friends they should refer to "her" as female.
During kindergarten, Coy’s parents informed "her" school that their child
identified as a girl and should be treated as one. Initially, the
school, just south of Colorado Springs, agreed.
But a few months into first grade, the district barred Coy from using
the girls’ bathroom, telling "her" parents that as "she" grew older and
developed, some students and parents would likely become uncomfortable.
It was best that Coy use staff bathrooms or a gender-neutral one in the
school’s health office, the district officials decided.
Furious, the Mathises pulled Coy from school and lodged a complaint with
the state’s civil rights division in February, claiming the district
had violated Colorado’s 2008 antidiscrimination statute, which expanded
provisions for transgender people.
After an investigation, the division, which enforces Colorado’s
antidiscrimination laws, agreed. It noted that while Coy’s birth
certificate stated "she" was male — an argument made by the school
district — more recent medical and legal documents identified "her" as
female.
It was clear, the state said, that Coy had completely integrated into
society as a "girl" — wearing girls’ clothing, standing in the girls’ line
at school and choosing to play with girls.
But the state’s ruling went even further, saying that evolving research
on transgender development showed that “compartmentalizing a child as a
boy or a girl solely based on their visible anatomy, is a simplistic
approach to a difficult and complex issue.”
Depriving Coy of the acceptance that students need to succeed in school,
Mr. Chavez wrote, “creates a barrier where none should exist, and
entirely disregards the charging party’s gender identity.”
Michael D. Silverman, the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund,
which filed the complaint on the Mathises’ behalf, hailed the decision
as a momentous victory and hoped it would sway how other school
districts treated transgender students.
According to the group, 17 states and the District of Columbia offer
some form of legal protections for transgender people. And the issue of
how schools treat transgender students has grown especially prominent in
recent years.
“This is the first ruling in the nation that holds that transgender
students be allowed to use bathrooms that match who they are,” he said.
“There are thousands of families like the Mathises who are feeling
relieved and vindicated that the commission ruled that Coy is a "girl"
just like any other "girl".”
A lawyer for the school district did not respond to requests for
comment. The school district had argued it acted reasonably in the
dispute, saying Coy was permitted to wear girls’ clothing to school and
was referred to as female.
The Mathises have since moved to Aurora, Colo., and plan to enroll Coy in school there.
“We knew that this was discrimination. So it was validating to get the
state to say ‘Yes, it is very clearly harassment,’ and they were doing
something they shouldn’t have been doing,” said Kathryn Mathis, Coy’s
mother.
“When I told Coy we won, "she" got this giant smile and "her" eyes bugged
out. "She" said, ‘So I can go to school and make friends?’ ”
(NY Times)
