Stacy Bivolcic: Require transgender students to use unisex bathroom rather than either/or

To The Daily Sun,

Many parents and students attended an Inter-Lakes School Board meeting on Jan. 10. Their concerns centered around the district’s Non-Discrimination Policy Statement, which was an agenda item. They were surprised when told at the door that the Non-Discrimination Policy Statement was suddenly taken off the agenda and would not be discussed by the board. Because 30 minutes of public input is an agenda item, the public did speak, without interaction from the board.

This policy directly impacts the safety of the use of the bathrooms for all students and states, “Restrooms: A student or other individual who identifies themselves as transgender under this policy should be permitted to use the restrooms assigned to the gender which the individual consistently asserts at school/work.” This may sound reasonable, but the definition of transgender from the LGBTQ+ community asserts that “transgender refers to someone’s gender identity and not their sexual orientation.”

Most people at the meeting were simply requesting that anyone with gender alternatives be required to use the unisex bathroom so everyone could feel more comfortable. We also know from the data that these individuals are often a target for bulling and assault themselves, so it would seem to me that this is a good solution for all.

Three brave junior high girls came to the meeting and expressed their feelings, but with a deaf ear, the board just shuffled the policy wording decisions back to the policy review committee where it was a week ago. They said that because it is the budget season, the review process would most likely take three months, but encouraged letters of concern to be directed to Assistant Superintendent Patricia “Trish” Temperino, SAU #2, 103 Main St. Suite 2, Meredith, NH 03253.

Evidently, multi-tasking is not in their wheelhouse.

Stacy Bivolcic

Meredith