Mother of Transgender Student Who Was Denied Access to Locker Room Speaks Out

The mother of a District 211 transgender student who has been denied open access to the girl’s locker room recently spoke out on the issue.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the family of the female student, posted the mother’s statement on their website. Titled “Our Child is a Girl,” the mom states, “The District wrongly assumes what many who are not educated about the issue assume; that what makes a girl a girl and a boy a boy is simple anatomy.”

She said that when her daughter was as young as four years old she declared she was a girl, played with dolls, had mostly girlfriends growing up and “was heavily distraught over the male characteristics of her body.” At the end of seventh grade, she told her parents she was girl and ”had to live openly as one.”

The issue surrounding the transgender student, and the controversy over District 211 not allowing her open access to the locker room, has received national attention. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights determined School District 211 was breaking the law by not allowing a transgender student full access to the girls’ locker room. The decision, education officials said, was the first of its kind regarding the rights of transgender students, the New York Times reports.

Regarding the controversy, here is what the student’s mother had to say:

Our school district – Township District 211 – insists that students “of the opposite sex” should not be permitted in the girls’ locker room. For the record, we agree with District Superintendent Daniel Cates about not permitting students of the opposite sex in the locker room. But the inconvenient fact for Mr. Cates and his supporters is that our daughter is not “of the opposite sex.” She is a girl.

You can read the full statement on the ACLU’s website.