BY AJ TRAGER
Isabelle Fessler, 13, and her mom testifying before the state Board of Education. Fessler has been bullied relentlessly in her own public school for wearing a rainbow button. Fessler is not a member of the LGBT community but is a strong ally. She attends a public school in Canton. BTL Photo: AJ Trager
LANSING – In a historic week that included federal leadership on trans inclusion in schools, the State Board of Education held its final public meeting May 10 on the State Board of Education Draft Statement and Guidance on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments for LGBT students in the Michigan K-12 public school system.
For nearly seven hours, the board heard public testimony from 120 people who expressed their concerns both for and against the set of proposed guidelines for Michigan schools. The meeting was so widely attended that many individuals had to wait downstairs until the upper level was cleared from speakers.
The proposed set of voluntary guidelines, introduced as a draft document March 11, urges schools to enact LGBT-inclusive policies and practices such as supporting the creation of a student-led Gay-Straight Alliance club, furthering the development of policies aimed to protect LGBT students from harassment, providing professional development training for staff on how to address LGBT issues and allowing trans and gender non-conforming students to use the bathroom of their choice.
Tensions surrounding the guidelines have been escalating since they were released in early March. State lawmakers have introduced legislation urging the Department of Education to reject the proposed draft guidelines, and state Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, announced his intention to author legislation that would ban trans youth from using the bathroom and locker room in accordance with their gender; however, no such bill has yet to be introduced.
PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) groups across the state have voiced their support of the guidelines as have 150 Michigan Faith Leaders for Equality, the Association for Children's Mental Health, Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, UNIFIED – HIV Health and Beyond, HIV/AIDS Alliance of Michigan, CARES, and the Lansing Area AIDS Network.
The May 10 meeting was the second hearing by the State Board of Education regarding the proposed guidelines.
All Those In Favor
Mary Beno, a health consultant in Washtenaw and Livingston counties, opened up public comment on the proposed set of optional guidelines following an unrelated presentation by the Michigan Education Corps. Every year Beno helps to provide local districts with professional development training to create and sustain safe and supportive schools. She believes that professional learning plays a critical role in helping teachers understand how a safe environment positively impacts student learning.
"It is important that there are resources and supports for faculty and their districts as they face these increasingly frequent situations. It takes a lot of time to learn whether a specific situation meets Title IX criteria or not. A small amount of guidance goes a long way to preventing expensive and unnecessary litigation and more importantly preventing undue stress on our young people. We believe we need to provide a safe and inclusive learning environment for all youth and appreciate any support you can provide," she said.
The guidelines would help Michigan schools become compliant with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which 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."
Teresa Severy, a counselor from DeWitt Public Schools, spoke on behalf of the Michigan School Counselor Association, the Michigan Association of School Psychologists and the Michigan School Association of School Social Workers. DeWitt and her colleagues work directly with Michigan youth and see how inclusive practices and policies benefit the experience of not just LGBT youth but all youth in the public school system.
"MASP, MSCA and MASSW as participants in the Michigan School Mental Health Coalition speak as one voice in support of the Michigan State Board of Education draft guidance document. School psychologists, school counselors and school social workers have an ethical obligation to advocate for and affirm LGBTQ students. We have resources and effective strategies to minimize the negative statistics associated with LGBTQ students," Severy said.
Severy and Beno were two of the 49 individuals that came forward to speak in favor of the LGBT guidelines. Among the many health care professionals and state educators that stood up to speak included LGBT activists such as Jayne Locke; Zoe Russick-Steinfield; Tim Larrabee, associate professor at Oakland University and SOGI Initiative director; Anita Calcagno, member of Lansing PFLAG; members of Riot Youth, a program of Ann Arbor's Neutral Zone; Lance Hicks; and others.
Many voices from the dissenting opinion disagree with Section Three, Page Four that states "trans and gender non-conforming students may choose when, with whom, and to what extent to share private information," and state that this allows for youth to keep secrets from their parents and takes away from the "parental right" to know what is going on with their children.
Michelle Fox-Phillips, representing the Gender Identity Network Alliance, spoke about the transgender experience and why students would want to withhold information from their parents.
"Kids do this out of fear of being kicked out," she said. "And there are a huge number of LGBT homeless youth here in Michigan because they were kicked out because they are gay or transgender."
Fox-Phillips said it's important to allow trans students to use names which they identify with as well as bathrooms that they would feel most comfortable in.
"I've facilitated adult and youth groups in the trans population and a lot of people and youth have told me, very simply, that they hold it because they're singled out and have to use a specific bathroom."
Many of Michigan's own youth came out and spoke in favor of the LGBT guidelines. In an impassioned comment that was cut short, Isabelle Fessler, 13, said she had been bullied relentlessly in her own public school. Fessler is not a member of the LGBT community but is a strong ally. She attends a public school in Canton.
"I am bullied every day and shoved up against the lockers for wearing a rainbow button on my backpack," she told the board, working through tears. "I can't imagine what it's like for the open LGBTQ youth in my school."
Jay Maddock, executive director of the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center, works directly with LGBT youth. Again and again he hears them say that they don't see themselves becoming successful adults because they hear what adults are saying about them. So do their peers. And every bit of intolerance effects their school environment. At the request of the institutions, Maddock helps train schools in the Kalamazoo county on LGBT cultural competency and best practices.
"When a group of students are experiencing disparities in their access to quality education, it is our responsibility to respond. When students and teachers receive state sanctioned guidelines that offer protections for LGBT students in public schools, the learning environment for LGBT students will be greatly improved. Because students cannot learn if they aren't in school and if they aren't in a safe environment that protects LGBT students from harassment," Maddock said.
Many statistics were shared from both sides, some with contradicting findings. Some of the reoccurring stats show LGBT students are two times more likely to skip school than their heterosexual peers; that 33 percent of LGBT students where physically harassed in just the past year because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; and that 56 percent of LGBT students reported personally experiencing LGBT related discriminatory policies or practices at school.
All Those Opposed
More than half of the attendees at the May 10 meeting spoke against the proposed set of voluntary guidelines. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and some K-12 professionals raised their concerns that the guidelines allowed for the violation of parental rights, grants predators the right to invade bathrooms of the opposite gender on a whim, and that Michigan youth do not have enough life experience to be able to advocate for their own needs based on their authentic identity.
Dozens of people spoke to the "bathroom predator" myth that a trans man or woman is going to physically or sexually assault someone in the bathroom. Some individuals did make sure to mention that it's not the trans person they fear but the heterosexual pedophile that would "pretend to be a girl" to gain access into the women's restroom.
One father even said that just because the guidelines are optional doesn't mean they aren't coercive.
Many said that they are tolerant of the LGBT community and that they have compassion towards their experiences, but the state board guidelines are LGBT propaganda meant to bully the Christian population.
"When the school board comes up with a policy that would in essence proselytize for the LGBT community, you don't speak for us. When you show a lack of tolerance for parents with legitimate concerns of the safety of their children, you don't speak for us. When you practice critical theory questioning societal norms, you don't speak for us," Tim Schmig, executive director of the Michigan Association of Christian Schools, said.
According to the website, MACS is a voluntary association that ensures its students all experience spiritual and physical "Christian growth" through the scholastic and extracurricular programming. Fifty-eight private schools in the state belong to the Association of Christian Schools International, serving 8,832 students.
Douglas Levesque, founder and president of Bible Nation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing and diffusing knowledge about the Bible and promoting its positive effects upon society, spoke up on behalf of all the Christians that have felt discriminated against throughout this discussion.
"Eighty-five percent of Michiganders identify with traditional Christian and biblical culture, and I'm here to advocate for that," he said. "And so, what you call LGBTQ, we call immoral. The Bible calls it sodomy. If that's bullying, then all of a sudden all Christians are alienated and you now are kind of picking on us."
All comments submitted both at the public hearings and online will be reviewed and the public should expect a decision by the state board in August.
"We will be very public and very clear if any action is coming and when it will be presented for action," State Superintendent Brian Whiston said.
Public comment on the proposed set of guidelines closed at the end of the day May 11. The state board is expected to weed through roughly 15,000 comments. To read a comment, visit http://www.everyvoicecounts.org. The guidelines can be found at http://gaybe.am/evc.
