The Debate of Whether Trans Kids’ Should Be Outed by Their Schools Starts with a Battle Over Language
What Are Words ForThe Debate of Whether Trans Kids’ Should Be Outed by Their Schools Starts with a Battle Over Language
Photo by Marc Nozell. File licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Case in point is Thursday’s story in NJ Spotlight — a news site for which I have written and that is probably the best in the state. The story focuses on a debate in Hanover, a town in Morris County, one of the more affluent counties in an affluent state. The debate revolves around the questions of parental notification of information that “could impact a student’s health or well-being, including sexual orientation and gender identity.” The board approved a policy earlier this year that requires such notifications, which led the state to sue and the courts to issue an injunction and order the policy to be rewritten. The board has approved a revised policy and is awaiting a ruling. The Hanover case is part of a national debate over the rights LGBTQ+ students — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and allies. Advocates for the LGBTQ+ community — like me — argue that parental notification laws like the one in question amount to the forced outing of students, potentially endangering them, and ultimately forcing them back into the closet. Parents’ groups argue that as parents they are entitled to all information about their children — and they have assumed the mantle of “parents’ rights,” which has been an effective way of framing the debate for public consumption. Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Channel Surfing A subscription gets you:
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Hank Kalet 