Local Residents Sound Off on District 211 Decision to Deny Transgender Student Open Access to Locker Room

A transgender student within Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and the student’s family have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights seeking unrestricted access to the locker room at the student’s school.

Though the U.S. Department of Education requires schools to provide transgender students access to a locker room, District 211 announced Monday it would continue to provide private accommodations for transgender students “to ensure a respectful school environment,” according to a statement from the school district.

“The goal of the district in this matter is to protect the privacy rights of all students when changing clothes or showering before or after physical education and after-school activities, while also providing accommodations necessary to meet the unique needs of individual students,” according to the statement. “The district’s responsibility is to provide an environment conducive to learning for all of its 12,000-plus students.”

• You can read the full article here

Local residents sounded off on the issues on the Palatine Patch Facebook page. Here is what some of them had to say:

• “This is sad for all sides of the equation. A great school should not have to suffer on the outside for one person. And one person should not have to suffer because of who they are on the inside. Transgender lifestyle is an enlightened issue that needs support and understanding and patience to let the answers come. Everyone can be a part of the solution, not the lawsuit that will force people to hate on either side.”
• “I guess locker rooms should just be co-Ed then. If a male thinks of himself as female and decides to change with other females, but still has male reproductive organs, then that becomes a co-Ed locker room. It’s not enough to identify as the opposite gender. If my teenage daughter is in a locker room with a biological male, I would NOT feel comfortable with her changing with said male. I don’t believe my daughter should be unwillingly exposed to a male’s naked body. I find it inappropriate!”
• “I know my daughter has already said she would feel very uncomfortable and would not want to change in front of a person with male anatomy. I would not want to be in that situation either. This could be an issue all over. You can’t just address the desires of a few students without regard to the hundreds of other students. Crazy world we are living in!”

What do you think about District 211 denying a transgender student full access to the locker room? Sound off in the comments section.