Transgender San Angelo ISD Students' Access to Restrooms Moves to the Front

 

In a short statement released Friday, San Angelo ISD Superintendent Carl Dethloff refused to take a stand on rest room access for those identifying themselves as “transgender.”

“Our school board and administration are aware of the federal directive, which has been released regarding restroom access in public schools,” Dethloff stated. He concluded with stating the district’s adherence to policy prior to the federal decree. “As we have practiced the entire school year, we will continue to provide privacy options (such as the nurse’s restroom or available faculty restrooms) to any student to help ensure a safe environment for all.”

While Dethloff and the board are deciding how to proceed, a protest of “transgender restrooms” has been announced for May 25 in front of the San Angelo ISD administration building.

Local conservative activist Shannon JoLeen Carpenter under the banner of Lone Star Liberty - Texas, organized the protest. The group has no official information about itself on its Facebook page and its internet domain name has official ownership information masked by the domain name registrar for “lonestarliberty.com.” The website is not published. Though the group does have 2,073 followers on Twitter.

Carpenter intends to address the San Angelo ISD school board at tonight’s regular board meeting that starts at 5:45 p.m.

In Fort Worth, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will participate in a joint press conference of opponents use of rest rooms by those of the opposite biological sex in the Fort Worth ISD at 11:15 a.m. this morning.

According to co-organizer Texas Values, parents are “outraged” that the “Fort Worth ISD Superintendent allow boys to go into girls’ showers, locker rooms, and bathrooms.”

“District employees can no longer use the words ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ and must abandon gender references. Information about a student’s gender expression on campus will be withheld from parents. No medical or mental health diagnosis is required in order to have a student claim an identity, and, therefore, they have full rights to the opposite sex locker rooms, bathrooms, etc.,” Texas Values stated in a press release late Sunday.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Friday those public schools across the nation risk having federal funding pulled if the districts do not fall into line with her stated guidance on transgender students.

"There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex," Attorney General Loretta Lynch was quoted as sating to CNN. "This guidance gives administrators, teachers and parents the tools they need to protect transgender students from peer harassment and to identify and address unjust school policies."

The guidance will treat a student’s gender identity with the force of Title IX, federal statute enforcing anti-discrimination.

Title IX states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

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By not following the Title IX directives pertaining to transgenders Texas will most likely lose billions of dollars that should of gone to educating Texas children. Texas legislators have already short changed the Texas children's education fund by billions of dollars in order to give more unneeded tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Now they can short change the education fund another few billion by not following the Federal directives. The result will be even more poorly educated voters. The GOP loves that because that means they can be more easily fooled into voting against their own best interests by throwing meaningless wedge issues like this at them and stirring them up to vote for the GOP to save them from yet another nonexistent threat.

Texas Governor and Lt Governor do not support this badly worded guidance from the department of education or justice.
It's overreaching on the states and the US Constitution gives the states the right to accept or deny federal funds.
This is not a civil rights matter as you can't compare apples and oranges again from the tyrant in the White House.
All the federal government wants to do is control the states by blackmailing them into a issue that should be decided by the states only.
Protecting our kids should be the right of the parents over the schools and government when it's not in the best interest of our children
If San Angelo ISD follows the federal guidance which is not a congressional law
I will pull my children out and look at charter school or home schooling and they will lose funds regardless

I do not wish for my child to be subjected to this and it is worth loosing the funding. I would much rather pay a higher tax amount to insure her safety. Just like the article states, No medical or mental health diagnosis is required in order to have a student claim an identity, and, therefore, they have full rights to the opposite sex locker rooms, bathrooms, etc.,” Texas Values stated in a press release late Sunday. So if a child decides to sneak a peek in the girls showers.. this will be accepted? My question is.. if one of these children get sexually assaulted due to this, how many lawsuits will be filed against the federal government? Maybe if Texas stands strong.. They (government) can use the money we will not be receiving to cover their legal fees.

Folks..... It's as simple as this.......... If a MAN walks into WOMEN'S bathroom and puts 50 cents into the tampon dispenser mounted on the wall and can't put that tampon where it belongs, then HE needs to use the MEN'S bathroom. The same goes for a WOMAN walking into a MANS bathroom and putting 50 cents into the condom dispenser and SHE can't roll it on to what it belongs on, the SHE needs to use the WOMEN'S bathroom.................. PERIOD !!!!! Simple as that.

But...I have a vagina now. That means I got the right plumbing. You should turn all of your caps lock powers on more pressing issues affecting our country than bathrooms. I use the women's bathroom every day...who does that affect?...no one. And yes I live in San Angelo, please cry about it or something and get it off your chest but afterwards focus on SERIOUS issues affecting our country than this farce.

What people do to resist your way of life is done for the safety of their children and to preserve their own way of life.

These issues are fundamental to who we are as a nation. There are no larger issues in this world than family and a proper spiritual life - at least not to the people of the hinterland states who still overwhelmingly do most of the fighting for this nation and who people the next generation. (Or who would, if some mysterious pressures weren't pushing down birthrates once people assimilate into modern America...) And to be frank, allowing transgenderism in the West is part of a huge, civilization-wide social experiment. Progress being guaranteed neither to move upward, nor forward, or to be exactly linear, future generations may look back on us in befuddlement for having ever undertaken it.

I wholeheartedly believe that we should all respect the lives of other human beings, but I think it's only fair that those like yourself respect that we are not all unicorns. In an earthy place like San Angelo, some of us are horses, others are mules or jackasses like myself. Nevertheless, the salt of the Earth is here. (And that term should not be an insult.) Such people are the under-appreciated and often neglected foundation of this nation. Undo them by destroying their values, their kindness, their patience, their tolerance, their families and the continuity within them, and you undo us all.

So after 10,000 years your free and you are going to conquer earth?

Look...you are scared about nothing. Transgender people have been around forever and we have been using the bathroom that we associate since FOREVER. Only now you guys are starting to freak out about it. And yes there are pressing issues in the world like hundreds of gallons of nuclear waste leaking from a storage facily in washingtom. Or the thousands of gallons of oil being spilled in the gulf of Mexico. Then terrorists attacks. I show respect when its given, and I cannot see how blindly justifying hating transgender people solves anything. In the past 36 years that has been only 1 account of a transgender person abusing the bathroom and it happened in Canada. There is no bathroom boogeyman...I could go on and show you FACTS but I have realized a long time ago there is no sense in reasoning with people dead set in their ways. I use the womens restroom every day and the only thing I do is pee in there...and poop sometimes.

I'm not afraid of transgenders. I have several transgender friends as well as one friend who is a gay rights activist who jumped onto the Trump train after the Orlando terror attack.

Speaking of 10,000 years, that's a lot of time to watch over human development. If you look at the history of human civilization, this weird aversion to homosexuality keeps getting encoded into the mores of different societies. In my world view, that doesn't justify condemning people who choose to pursue love and happiness in their own way, but there has to be some reason that these attitudes keep showing up across cultures, just like there's probably a good reason that high civilizations like India, China, and Europe all had heterosexual patriarchies.

I suspect that there is a baby in this bathwater, so I think we might want to think about how we can all share our spaces, especially when it comes to non-hetero orientations and parents concerns about the safety of children. That might make me sound like a crazy homophobisexiracist, but knowledge grows and society changes. Just look at how different things are now from 100 years ago. I'm not afraid, I'm cautious about chipping away at pillars that have withstood the test of time and which we might have to replace if what they support collapses.

I would like to meet your friends. I met like one other Transgender person and for the longest time I haven't had anyone to talk to or relate with about my experiences and all that jazz. I really would not care if they opened up transgender bathrooms or whatever...I was honestly on here trolling people that said ignorant and hate filled comments.

1. This is what you sound like: https://youtu.be/BHqgHFcmAOc
2. I get that you have full blown homosexuality (or a variant) and that your case appears to congenital. Nobody cares. This is West Texas.
3. Go to the Dead Horse downtown and meets the trans people there. Or to your nearest faith-based counselor and tell them, "I realized from a young age that I was trans and have come to be comfortable in my sexuality, but I now wish to be a normal person." Your choice.

In the 1990s, Antonin Scaia spoke for a unanimous court decision that found in favor of the plaintiff in a sex-discrimination case. Simply stated, you aren’t supposed to be harassed at work, school, or other “public” venue places, especially because of an inborn characteristic like being of a particular gender. The harassment for transgender individuals is impossible to portray differently so it wouldn’t be covered by the Civil Rights Act. Republicans are aware of this, and this is why there has been a very recent outcry by many of them to have Congress fundamentally dismantle the Civil Rights Act.

Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, 523 U.S. 75 (1998)

Transgender transsexual transvestite or tranny wanna be . If you don't have the right plumbing then you don't need to be in the wrong bathroom . That's the way it is , no one is advocating males in female bathrooms or the opposite . Misinformed parents holy rollers and republicans you have nothing to whine about .

Highly offensive...but I agree. People should be focusing on more pressing matters. (Thumbs up)

This issue should have been left at the state level. The only thing that will come from forcing these issues is increased backlash from the Right, and those waves of backlash will progressively look less like a bad reality show and more like actual fascism. People have a right to live their own lives as they wish and as they can with others. Even Christians who want to preserve the sanctity of their marriage sacrament.

Get these whatever they want to be. (porta potties) and have them pay for cleaning after themselfs,they want to be treaded.special.They need to really realiz. e. who their soppose to be!! Born that way stay.thatway:Mentally not human!!!!!

Wow you are totally right...Mentally I am not human, Mentally I am a Majestic Unicorn that sneezes glitter. You sound like Donald Trump too. I could barely understand any of your post. I use the women's bathroom every day...know what I do?...I pee....and sometimes I poop. Stop crying over stupid crap and focus on more important issues affecting our country.

O why do you come to San Angelostan and simply urinate and defecate upon everyone's values? Please leave the simple folk of this remote outpost in peace and do not curse us, magical hijra!

Cause I was stationed here, and then I stayed when I got out of the military. The only thing I urinate and defecate on is peoples backwards way of thinking like....*gasp* OMG yours...I'm going to break out the Ouija board and poke some voodoo dolls and sing to the 29 moods of kunga delray...I live here sweetie you're just going to have to deal with me. You can still cry about it...you're tears strengthen me.

Sounds terrible. However, much like Mike Tyson, I've lost the ability to cry. Would you instead accept a sacrifce of some sort?

Best comment all day!

And yes a sacrifice is required. We will need a pair of Elton John esque glasses, A Glitter Cannon, And a Crossfit Vaping Vegan.

They're sexual deviants, not subhumans, troglodyte. Bad. Down.

What are you doing looking at Transgender porn for? Sexual deviants? Where do you get that? We're just normal people. You speak like a classically uneducated person.

"Sexual deviants" was a term I read somewhere before the last Newspeak dictionary came out. I'm not sure what it means.

I'm seeing a lot of ignorant hate filled comments. I live in San Angelo and knowing that people like you all live here...gives me social anxiety. What ever happened to southern hospitality? Would you guys treat me any different if I also included that I am a veteran? I was born and raised in Texas and all of you make me feel like I am not welcome here anymore. Not mentally human? A Trangender Alien? Right...well I protected your freedom to hate me. Y'all have a good day...If you want to talk like a civilized person that loves their country and loves Texas I'm right here.

You a combat vet? What's your kill count? We need it so we can assess how much protecting you did.

No, seriously.

Hahaha! Classic ignorance. You really make my day. If you ever say that to a veteran please videotape it and put it on youtube, I want to see their reaction and whether they react violently or not. Its called an oath moron...oh jeez please keep them coming.

You've requested more, and therefore, I have no choice but to comply.

Honestly, I ask this question every time I hear someone throwing around their veteran status at other people. The last answer I got was "six." It's an important question because, while I generally have a deep respect for veterans personally, most people don't understand that combat veterans are a bit different and that the modern military is a lot softer than the past and often filled with a lot of internecine power plays and drama.

I'll take your dissembling as indicating that you're no "American Sniper." Thank you for your service, though I don't think it has any bearing on this topic.

https://youtu.be/9CBTYmZfDTI

Its kind of sad that you see the amount of service someone puts into the military as ranked on how many people they kill. When you join it is raising your right hand and promising to defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic. Everyone has a part that fuels the big machine. Everyone deploys and everyone loses friends and people they love. It might not be from gunfire but it could be from a suicide coming back from a deployment. You don't have to be an "American Sniper" to be considered "Worthy" of some butt hurt persons praise. "I fought for your right to hate me" is a slogan among Transgender veterans.

Thank you for thanking me...be prepared to thank a lot of Transgender service members as well since the pentagon lifted the ban on Transgender enlistment and serving openly.

Yeah. I'm a big ol' dumb meanie.

But tell me this O gentle snowflake unicorn: Why can't you just use the XY chromosome room like the ladyboys in Buddhist Thailand did until architecture has time to catch up? You mentioned social anxiety earlier. Surely you have compassion and consideration for the women and girls who experience deep, instinctual anxiety at your presence in their space?

Please tell us why you cannot quell their anxieties and alleviate their fears. Is the men's room too frightful for a warrior?

Even if you are a big dumb meanie, still love ya. I'm going to continue to do my thing and you continue to do your thing. May you have a wonderful evening :)

And I'm going to keep doing everything I can to sound like Mel Gibson without violating any hate-speech laws.

Respect _/|\_

Serena, people like you are only concerned what you want, not how it affects other people. You may want to wear women's clothes and pretend you are a female, but what you refuse to acknowledge is there are those around us who will take advantage of that to harm children. Don't you keep up with local news? Nearly every day, there is an article about some grown man being arrested, tried and convicted for molesting a child right here in San Angelo. And, you want to impose on us another means for these creeps to access little girls by camouflaging yourself as a woman. That's very selfish of you to place your desire to use the women's restroom over the safety and concerns of families who must be on constant guard against criminals who walk among us.

Look...i'm going to level with you here. We have been here forever...first known transgender woman in the united states was in 1952. We have been using whatever bathroom we feel like. There has been only 1 incident in the last 36 years and it happened in Canada. There are worse things to worry about like hundreds of gallons of nuclear waste leaking in Washington or the thousands of gallons of oil seeping into the gulf. I keep up with the local news and everyone making a huge deal out of bathrooms is only giving those perverts and molesters Ideas...think about that? There are laws in place to punish people that do that. Look...watch this educational video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov-ocQpQtrw

Nice, I have seen similar videos like this. But the top comment really strikes a key note.

"As a trans woman who has been making regular visits to the shrink and the psychiatrist since the age of 12 due to inherited depression and anxiety (and who is well aware of all her 'quirks' and how to take care of them), all I'm hearing from this man is that he was misdiagnosed. He never was transgender - he was suffering from a dissociative disorder rooted in childhood trauma. This one misdiagnosed man, as tragic as his story may be, is not somehow evidence that there aren't trans people who are actually transgender."

It is not ideologically sound to base one persons experience and ideas on a community of people. I saw a video about one guy who decided to stop being Transgender because Jesus spoke to him...or something. You can go on about it, but I am the happiest I have ever been in my entire life. Someone else's experiences are not mine.

Fair enough. Let me ask you, do you think children should be taught in school about gender and orientation issues, or should education about these issues be left to the parents and to the child to pursue once they turn 18?

That's really taught in human sexuality classes (PS309). I am no child psychologist so I cannot say anything about that...I mean people are already blowing gaskets over Sex Ed and people have many opinions and arguments over how that should be handled. When I went through school they never taught anything about gays and lesbians...just found out from my parents when I was young that its a sin and bad...only to find out later on in life when actually meeting and socializing with gays and lesbians that they are just normal people that are attracted to the same gender. So in the end it will probably be the parents teaching their children and then the child finding out the truth for themselves when they grow up.

I didn't even know there was an actual name for what I was going through until I was an adult...and I've felt different since I was 4.

According to the stats most child molesters are guys who are not transgender or gay , they are guys who live next door , teachers , lawyers , doctors , coaches , and guys you thought would never do that sort of thing . Thank you Serena for serving in the armed forces , most of these morlocks have never served and if they have they were tin soldiers , never having endured the " shit " . I guess the best solution is to make all bathrooms unisex , with locks on the insides and panels that go all the way to the floor , I have never been in a house where they have male and female bathrooms , and they are completely closed . As for southern hospitality , these guys are the same ones who murdered any one they didn't like , any one who was different , and almost always got away with it . You can thank God that things are a little different now . Keep voting republican ( a lot of gays and transsexuals vote republican ) things will get much worse . If being transgender is a sin , then God alone will take care of this , quit griping .

You deserve a big hug. Also statistics show that transgender (MtF) are less of a threat because of the lack of testosterone and the estrogen makes them more docile.

Another thing, Milo. I hate white people as much as anyone. They're arrogant, self-deluded, condescending and judgmental. They do stupid things like turn their Facebooks green to protest Iran, develop gluten intolerance, or if they're lower class, they'll rev the engines of their pick-up trucks and peel out down the street with their loud mufflers, screaming about the Confederacy, making loud hoots and throwing alcohol containers out of the window.

But as a new generation matures, I think it's important to cautiously put some things to the side... The US isn't so bad after all, and if you think it is, look to places like India where some people's bloodlines have been in bondage for millennia. You can't say white America hasn't tried to do right.

It's a waste of time talking with LGBT, as they think what is wrong is right
It's not normal to be LGBT
THEY CANT HAVE CHILDREN THROUGH THE GOD GIVEN PROCESS SO THEY HAVE NOTHI NG TO SAY WHAT IS RIGHT FOR OUR CHILDREN

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH DEBATE WITH THEM

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