Alabama schools returned this month with new policies in place regarding LGBTQ students. Some officials say a new state law that requires students to use a bathroom that aligns with the sex on their birth certificate creates stigma and shame.
Alabama schools returned this month with new policies in place regarding LGBTQ students and the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.Students also are reportedly receiving fewer accommodations and support than in previous years. Lawyers from ACLU Alabama and Magic City Legal Center, which specializes in pro-bono legal services for the LGBTQ community, say they’ve received a number of calls from frustrated parents.
“They’re kind of being carved out and singled out and being made to feel different and shown to be different to the rest of the class and they’re internalizing that in a really traumatic way… if some kid who isn’t out to the school is being carved out from the rest of his classmates, and asked to stand apart from them to use the bathroom…that constitutes being outed,” Duncan said.The Alabama legislature passed two bills in April targeting LGBTQ youth.
Gotell Faulks noted that many of the families she’s heard from had disclosed to their districts in previous years that their kids were trans in hopes of receiving more accommodations and protections.“These families disclosed deeply personal medical information to high-level school officials so that their kids could be affirmed and protected. And with this law, that disclosure, that parental protective behavior has been weaponized,” she said.
Nearly 70% of transgender students report not going to the bathroom at all during the school day, according to afrom the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national advocacy organization. Some students said they avoided eating or drinking during the day, while others reported getting a urinary tract infection or kidney-related medical issue as a result of not going to the bathroom.
“My art classroom got a lot less colorful this week after my district mandated that I remove flags that I used as signs of love, acceptance, and safety. I have a lot of hurt, confused, and angry students. It’s not about the flags, y’all. It’s about the message we send to students by banning them,”Vaughn did not return a request for comment.