Bloomfield School To Host ‘Transgender Symposium’

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — If you’re a New Jersey student who was born a female but who identifies as a male, are you allowed to use the boys’ bathroom? Or if you were born a male but identify as a female, can you play girls’ softball? These are some of the questions that a North Jersey school community hopes to address at an upcoming public forum.

Bloomfield public school administrators plan to host a “Transgender Symposium” at the high school on Wednesday, May 3. According to administrators, the free, public forum will help the community understand the changes that will come with the rollout of the district’s official transgender policy, which the Board of Education adopted last year.

Nicholas Dotoli, Bloomfield Director of Administration and General Counsel, former Bloomfield Interim Superintendent of Schools, told NorthJersey.com that the forum will address school district responsibilities based on state and federal mandates, as well as what school districts can do in regard to controversial issues such as facilities and athletic accommodations.

The Bloomfield Public School District adopted a “Transgender and Nonconforming Students Policy” in 2016 to “provide a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.”

Click here to learn more about the Transgender Symposium, which is slated for 6:30 p.m. on May 3 at the Bloomfield High School Media Center.

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NEW JERSEY SCHOOLS AND TRANSGENDER LAW

According to a New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) blog, an increasing number of transgender students are seeking to “socially transition” from the gender they were assigned at birth, to the gender they identify with.

• See related article: N.J. Mom Says Boy Scouts Kicked Out Her Transgender Son

There are also more students, generally of high school age, who are considered gender non-conforming and “do not accept that there is a gender binary of male and female and refuse to express themselves in gender stereotypical ways,” the NJSBA blog states.

According to the NJSBA, New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits discrimination based on a person’s gender identity or expression. This includes “places of public accommodation” such as bathrooms or locker rooms, where a student must be allowed to “use the facility consistent with their gender identity or expression.”

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), which oversees interscholastic athletics in New Jersey, states that a transgender student is eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics “in a manner that is consistent with the student’s gender identity.”

However, the determination of a student’s sex-assignment for interscholastic athletics is ultimately the decision of the student’s school, and any member of the school may appeal the eligibility of a transgender student on the grounds that the student’s participation in interscholastic athletics would “adversely affect competition or safety,” the NJSIAA states.

• See related article: Beyond The Bathroom: Transgender Policies Under Review By N.J. Schools

Garden State Equality, one of the state’s largest LGBT advocacy groups, states that transgender students have the right to be called by their “correct name and pronouns” under state and federal court precedents.

“You do not need a legal name change in order for your school to refer to you by the correct name and pronouns,” the nonprofit states.

“In New Jersey, there are an estimated 13,962 transgender students in K-12 schools,” Garden State Equality writes. “Research shows that when transgender children and adolescents are supported by family and community, they do well, with levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidality matching their non-transgender peers. However, transgender youth frequently face persistent discrimination and this has a profoundly negative effect on their well-being. Policies that support transgender students provide a roadmap that helps everyone involved, from school administrators and teachers to parents, community, and friends, to understand what the law is and what best practice is and to work together to support all students, including transgender students.”

• See related article: Transgender Woman: I Was 'Harassed' For Trying To Use N.J. McDonald's Bathroom
• See related article: Target Makes Decision On Transgender Bathroom Usage In N.J.

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