by Thaddeus Baklinski
TUCSON, AZ, March 27, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parents with children attending a school in the Tucson Unified School District are outraged after school officials decided that transgender students could use whichever bathroom they "identify" with rather than be restricted by their biological sex.
According to KVOA TV, the Tucson Unified School District voted on March 25 to update its non-discrimination policy to include "gender identity and expression."
Parents with children at Anna Henry Elementary School in Tucson voiced their concern at a meeting on Wednesday night where they related incidents that made their kids very uncomfortable.
John Bellisario, principal of Henry Elementary, when asked which bathrooms transgender students are encouraged to use, replied, "We have multiple restrooms, we have boys restrooms, we have girls restrooms, we have unisex restrooms, and the children can use the restroom they identify with. That's based on case law all over the country."
Susan Wright related an incident where her 10-year old son was using the urinal in the boys' bathroom when a student he identified as a female walked in on him, according to a Tucson News Now report.
"My son won't even let me go in the bathroom with him, he won't let a female teacher go in with him, this did not make him comfortable," said Wright.
"My child's privacy was infringed upon. If he doesn't want his own mother in the bathroom with him, he's certainly not going to want one of his peers," Wright stated.
Another parent, Danya Ayers, said she knew of an incident where a boy was very uncomfortable after a child he knew as a girl removed her underpants in front of him.
"It's a privacy issue," concurred concerned parent Sharah Gray. "It's not a gay or a lesbian issue. If that were the case, I would despise my cousin, my uncle. That has absolutely nothing to do with it."
School officials told the parents at the meeting that they had temporarily addressed the issue by blocking off all the male urinals in the boys' bathrooms, telling students to use the stalls instead.
While some parents thought simply requiring kids to use stalls was an answer to the concerns of privacy for the children, others said the issues involved in pandering to transgender students were more complex.
"I mean, what's next?" asked Danya Ayers. "The next thing you know it's not just bathrooms, it's locker rooms, it's showers. Having two boys, I would not feel comfortable with them showering next to a fully developed female."
"It's a privacy issue, it's a safety issue. Some students are just not comfortable with it," said Ayers.
Contact:
Tucson Unified School District
Dr. H. T. Sánchez, Superintendent
1010 E. Tenth St. Tucson, AZ 85719
Phone: 520-225-6060
Fax: 520-225-6174
Heliodoro.Sanchez@tusd1.org
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