Australian Ethics Alarms reader Zoe Brain is the site’s resident expert on transgender issues, having professional and personal experience in the field, and she pointed me to this story, which is disturbing and revealing. I know she will continue to help clarify the issues and events involved in the ongoing comment thread, but I wanted to highlight this comment, which also provides an update, as the Comment of the Day on the post, Lessons of The Colorado “Trans Bathroom Harassment” Hoax.Here’s Zoe Brain:

“A few comments –

“1) Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Fox News and others have neither retracted the story nor removed it, despite being informed that it’s false in both substance and in several technical areas. For example, this trans girl transitioned two years ago, she is not “a boy who sometimes dresses like a girl”.

“2) On the other hand, the San Jose Christian Examiner, after initially and uncritically reporting what the CBN had said (they considered it a completely reliable source) and with additional rather pungent commentary, subsequently fact-checked and retracted with apologies. They left the story up as a badge of dishonour, but prefaced it with words that did indeed amount to “WE MISLED YOU, WE WERE UNPROFESSIONAL, AND WE BEG YOUR FORGIVENESS.”. I therefore nominate them for an Ethics Hero award – section “What to do when you screw up by the numbers”.

“3) Regarding timing –

‘At first we had our concerns. Would letting students participate in activities and facilities that were consistent with their gender identities create problems? What would happen? And, ultimately we decided that we as the adults needed to manage our fears and give the students the respect and dignity that they deserved. And I’m pleased to say none of our fears have been materialized. Our transgender students use facilities, participate in gym class and play on sports teams in a way that corresponds with their gender identity.

‘We treat our transgender students — our boys, our transgender boys and girls — simply like any other boys and girls with the same rights and responsibilities, rules, and obligations.

‘In the eight years that we’ve had our policy we’ve not had any problems. On the contrary, it has solved many problems. It’s a nonissue on our campuses. Our transgender students use the bathrooms for the same reasons as everybody else. They do their business, fix their hair and make-up, and gossip with friends.

‘So when we instituted this policy we had no idea how many students that this would effect. In 2011, we conducted a survey in conjunction with the YRBS, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and we learned that point-five percent of our students self-identified as transgender. In a district of our size, that’s about thirty-five-hundred students. We were shocked. We had no idea that we had that many transgender students.

‘For most of them, this is their private secret. But, we want them to know that we’re here for them whenever they’re ready.’— Judy Chiasson, Ph.D., a Program Coordinator for Human Relations at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

“Exactly the same argument about timing could be, and no doubt was, made regarding desegregation in schools. That was an even tougher issue. While the argument has some merit, the problem is that there will never be a right time. Policies similar to that of Colorado and California have been in place in many ultra-conservative parts of the country. In Texas for example, in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Dallas and Ft. Worth. Such policies have been in place for decades now in some places.

“4) Finally… I’m not objective, I’m a player in this. You have to treat everything I say in that light – not so much what I’ve said, as what I’ve left unsaid. For example, I know of exactly one incident which the Advocates for Faith and Freedom promise that they will initiate a lawsuit over any day now, one investigated by the police and found without substance (one anonymous tip vs several sworn statements to the contrary) – so to say “there have been no incidents in LA county” is not technically correct. There has been one alleged incident, once.”

Sources:
http://www.transadvocate.com/what-happens-when-pji-is-confronted-by-parents.htm
http://www.transadvocate.com/family-of-colorado-trans-kid-targeted-by-harassment-hoax-speaks-up.htm
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2013/October/No-Recourse-for-Girls-Harassed-by-Transgender-Student/
http://www.examiner.com/article/what-a-shocker-transgender-male-harassing-girls-high-school-bathroom
http://news.charismanews.com/us/41346-transgender-boy-harassing-girls-in-the-bathroom-gets-no-punishment
http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/10/14/girls-harassed-school-bathroom-transgender-student-told-his-rights-trump-their-privacy#
http://www.pacificjustice.org/1/post/2013/10/nightmare-teen-boy-harasses-girls-in-their-bathroom-colo-school-tells-girls-they-have-no-rights.html
http://www.californiascapitol.com/2013/08/new-law-would-detail-non-discrimnatory-policy-on-transgender-students/