Pittsburgh Public Schools to Vote on Transgender Nondiscrimination Policy

In the heat of a nationwide debate, the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board is set to vote June 22 on a new policy that would protect students across the district from discrimination based on their gender identity. If approved, the policy will go into effect starting next school year.

Board member Moira Kaledia endorsed the policy at a recent school board meeting. According to Kaledia, “we [Pittsburgh Public Schools] believe that transgender and gender non-conforming students have the right to experience life as any other student would.”

A draft of the policy available on the district website explains that transgender students would have the right to wear clothes and use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Teachers would be required to attend trainings on gender identity issues and bullying prevention, and address transgender students by their chosen name and pronouns.

Because medical transition treatments are often unaffordable, unavailable, or unnecessary for minors, students will not be required to provide medical documentation of their status. In addition, the District will be unable to disclose a student’s transgender status to any third party, including the student’s parents.

The controversial nondisclosure policy is designed to prevent parents from abusing or abandoning their children after the news gets out. Revealing a student’s transgender status to unapproving parents carries a myriad of risks, including homelessness; today, over 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT.

Transgender teens also face high rates of depression and suicide. More than 40% of transgender youth attempt suicide at least once before their 20th birthday, and that number jumps up to 60% for those denied access to bathrooms that match their gender identity.

One school in the District, Brashear High School, has already had a similar transgender nondiscrimination policy in place for for two years. The school’s Gender Sexuality Alliance, led by faculty advisor Devin Browne, has been campaigning to expand the policy district-wide throughout the year. Passionate students have attended public hearings and scheduled meetings with board members to have their voice heard.

“When I came into office, Devin asked me to meet with his Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) students and to hear about what they were doing at Brashear first hand,” said Kaledia. “I was in awe of the passion that kids of all gender identities put forth and how important and life changing this was for some of the students.”

Growing up is hard enough as it is, and growing up trans is even harder. The last thing we should be doing to kids is discriminating against them in the one place they’re supposed to be safe: their schools.

By discriminating against transgender kids on an institutional level, we teach their peers that it’s okay to bully and harass them because of their status. According to GSLEN, 74% of transgender youth suffer from sexual harrassment at school and 55% experience physical attacks. After being harrassed, transgender students often develop a fear of school and suffer from other consequences including poor grades, truancy, dropout, and drug abuse.

The Pittsburgh Public School District’s motto is, “excellence for all.” If the school board truly believes this, enacting a policy that will help transgender students feel safe and succeed in school should be a no-brainer. For Kaledia at least, it is: “I am proud of this work and feel that it sends an important message in a time of such political turmoil. We will not be the next North Carolina. We will not stand for hate.”

However, the policy remains controversial. Parents and students are encouraged to send letters of support to boardoffice@pghboe.net and attend the final public hearing on June 20th. The hearing will take place at 6pm in the Board of Education Building, located in Oakland next to the Cathedral of Learning. To testify during meeting, speakers must sign up one week in advanced at www.pps.k12.pa.us/Page/4043.

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