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Veronica Russell

Transgender child's use of school bathrooms in disucussion - 53 views

started by Veronica Russell on 26 Mar 13
  • Veronica Russell
    #1 Veronica Russell on 26 Mar 13
     
    The little girl identifies herself as a girl but has a boy's body. The school, and now court, are discussing which bathrooms she should use. It raises questions about discrimination. Pretty interesting read.

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/us/colorado-transgender-girl-school/index.html
  • Emma Boczek
    #2 Emma Boczek on 28 Mar 13
     
    There is a lot to be said about this article, but what stood out to me was the girl's parents' willingness to be very public with their child's story. The parents said they had pulled her out of school and begun homeschooling for fear that she would be bullied, and CNN published the little girl's name and school district. Such publicity would not bring any sort of normality to the girl's life (even, possibly, negative attention or bullying), so it could be considered counter-intuitive. However, in bringing to light an incidence of discrimination against transgendered children, the parents may have broken the ice of a much-needed issue in terms of public coverage. In this case, their efforts would eventually improve their daughter's life. I'm not sure if this made sense... I just think it's interesting to think about the parents' possible motivation in publicizing their story.
  • Nic Mosher
    #6 Nic Mosher on 04 Apr 13
     
    I know where I stand with most topics in the world, but this one can really get my brain in a not sometimes. After really considering it, I think that the girl should be able to make the decision for herself. She already was born with a confusing body, discriminating her will only make her life more mind-boggling. She is not a freak, and our society needs to be able to accept her.
  • Mae P
    #7 Mae P on 04 Apr 13
     
    I think that the bathroom debate is yet another argument full of fallacies used to discriminate against transgendered people. Like Nick said, she already is going to face her own confusing body, she doesn't need to face institutionalized discrimination as well.
    Girls bathrooms have STALLS, for god's sake, so the argument that her body is different shouldn't be a problem - nobody will be offended by her genitals if they can't see them! And to bring up someone's genitals in court, in public, without their consent, is incredibly rude, whether it is the school board or the media.
    I also agree with Emma, that I question her parent's decision in publicizing the girl's name and story.
  • Aaron Newman
    #10 Aaron Newman on 04 Apr 13
     
    This is a very interesting topic, and was covered well; as soon as I was reading it and wondering to myself how it was possible for Coy to identify herself as female so early in her life, the story covered that sort of thing with its section giving a basic education about the logistics of transgender identity. I agree with Emma that the publicizing parents' motives are a bit iffy, and think that Georgie brings up a good point, too. For me, the most interesting part of this article is that kind of a question: how early do we really know who we are?

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