NY state issues 'gender affirming' guidelines to schools, warns against 'denial of access' to opposite sex locker rooms
The state recommends that teachers 'continually affirm the student’s self-identity' because 'doing otherwise could cause stress and emotional harm.'
The guide is intended 'to create a culture in which [transgender and gender-expansive], nonbinary, and intersex students feel safe, supported, and included.'
On June 12, the New York State Education Department and the University of the State of New York (USNY) issued new “Best Practices” guide for schools, titled: “Creating a Safe, Supportive, and Affirming School Environment for Transgender and Gender Expansive Students.”
USNY is the state government’s official educational governing body that establishes standards for all public and private schools, from pre-K through the college graduate school level, throughout New York. It also oversees over 7,000 state libraries and 750 museums.
The guide, whose sponsors include the New York State Department of Health and the Northwell Health Center for Transgender Care, was designed to help “public school administrators continue to take proactive steps to create a culture in which [transgender and gender-expansive], nonbinary, and intersex students feel safe, supported, and included.”
This involves avoiding instances of “harassment” and “discrimination” against a student’s gender identity, such as a “denial of access” to locker rooms and changing rooms.
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The guidelines are organized into multiple sections, including “Coming Out at School” and “Understanding School Climate, Transgender and Gender Expansive Students.” The latter details how schools can help transgender and gender-expansive students as they “continue to face hostility and physical violence while at school.”
The document also recommends that teachers “continually affirm the student’s self-identity” because “doing otherwise could cause stress and emotional harm.”
Administrators are warned about the adverse effects of when a student is “dead named,” which is defined as “when a trans person gets called by their assigned name, rather than their affirmed name.”
“Students of all identities must navigate situations and evaluate the safety of expressing their full selves,” the document states. “Young people are the best judges of their own sense of personal safety.”
Another section is dedicated to teaching how to properly use a transgender students’ pronouns and “affirmed” name, which is a “significant facet of social transitioning.” As such, faculty are encouraged to use gender-neutral pronouns such as “Ze,” “Zir,” and “Zirs.”
Instead of separating groups by boys and girls, the document recommends educators draw “equity sticks” (popsicle sticks).
Immediately following the publication of the document on June 12, the New York State Education Department put out a press release stating that a primary goal was to “[r]eflect changes in New York State Human Rights Law and federal law which provides enhanced protections for transgender and gender expansive students.”
“By adopting the strategies outlined in this framework, schools will be better positioned to foster a more equitable education experience that offers a level playing field that allows every student, including our transgender and gender expansive students, to have a fair chance to succeed,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr.
Campus Reform contacted all relevant parties for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
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