What is most frustrating about this article is that the author has done their research and uses, like American's on the right tend to do, the Supreme Court and the State legislation to argue against the Board of Ed's attempt to protect marginalized people, stating that both have declared on numerous occasions that parental rights are a fundamental right. As such, a parent should be able to choose with whom their child shares a shower. This all sound very convincing until you remember that queer and trans children have parents too! Shocker! The author goes on to argue in favour of subsidiarity, against a state level approach to education policy, for a more localized approach "simply because such organizational governance is more likely to result in better and more effective educational policy".
Really, local, decentralized policy making in education will be more effective? There are no limits to this? One of the great downfalls of the American education system is the fact that education policy varies from state to state. Students in one part of the country may receive a very different type of education than someone just a state over. This can make one student less competitive when applying for university, but more than that, the lack of centralized standards that hold states (and locals) accountable for reaching certain educational goals for their students allows children to slip through the cracks. Granted, decentralization can work, but there should still be some fundamental standards set out by a centralized governing body which protects at the very leas the rights and freedoms of marginalized people. Also, how can this author use federal and state law to argue his first case (about parental rights) and then argue that localized policy/legislation is the way to go? Way to speak out of both sides of your mouth, buddy.
But back to the issue at hand, because all this talk about levels of policy making takes away from the core issue which is that the state board of education in Michigan wants to protect children from harassment and give people equal dignity regardless of their gender identity. The way that this type of situation is manipulated by those who are anti-legbtq is always frustrating. This policy would not allow boys to use a girl's locker room. It would allow girls who were called boys from birth, to use girl's locker rooms. I can understand how this is confusing to people who have not encountered trans issues before. This all might seem very new. But just like we learned, gradually, that men and women are deserving of equal dignity, so too must be begin to learn that all people, regardless of their birth sex or sexual/gender identity are deserving of equal dignity.
What is exhausting to watch is that the anti-lgbtq crowd are winning in some places. The argument that boys should not be allowed in girl's bathrooms was used by the folks who passed the incredibly heartbreaking bill in North Carolina last week, which bans trans people from public washrooms that do not line up with their birth sex, and it is similar to the argument made by Canadian conservatives against the "Bathroom Bill' in 2013/2015 that protected trans people from discrimination. They claim that sexual predators are going to use it as an excuse to access washrooms/change rooms, or that people will take advantage of this policy. But the policy is to protect the people who every day are abused and harassed for something as simple as going to the washroom - something that most of us are able to do without any issue at all. It is heartbreaking to imagine a young person having to deal with their struggle for a gender identity, on top of all of the other drama that comes with being so young... I cannot imagine being a transgendered young person being forced to share a washroom with my abusers. It also breaks my heart that a christian organization who has been pretty clear that they are anti-science (and anti-evolution) would use science as an argument against lgbtq rights. What's that thing the bible says about not being judgmental, and loving everyone, and being kind, especially to the marginalized? Or right, it's "don't be a jerk"
 |
| from the Atlantic |
Thank you to my mother, who brought this to my attention yesterday. I needed a distraction... and a reminder of why my thesis research matters so much.
Happy(ish) Wednesday
J
No comments:
Post a Comment