School bathroom ban ‘humiliates’ trans students by making them wear green bracelets
A school has been slapped with a lawsuit from a transgender student – who says he was discriminated against by a bathroom ban policy that requires transgender students to wear green bracelets identifying them as trans
The suit was brought against Kenosha Unified School District by student Ash Whitaker, who is a transgender man.
The case details a number of alleged instances of discrimination against Whitaker – who was repeatedly referred to using female pronouns and his birth name and was blocked from running for prom king.
The suit, filed in district court this week in Wisconsin, says the school has “repeatedly refused to recognise or respect A.W.’s gender identity and have taken a series of discriminatory and highly stigmatising actions against him based on his sex, gender identity, and transgender status.
“The actions, as described more fully herein, have included denying him access to boys’ restrooms at school and requiring him to use girls’ restrooms or a single occupancy restroom [and] directing school staff to monitor his restroom usage and to report to administrators if he was observed using a boys’ restroom.
It adds that guidance counselors were instructed “to issue bright green wristbands to A.W. and any other transgender students at the school, to more easily monitor and enforce these students’ restroom usage”.
It recalls: “In May 2016, A.W.’s guidance counselor, Tronvig, showed M.W. a bright green wristband that the school intended to use to mark students who are transgender.
“Branding transgender students in this way would single them out for additional scrutiny, stigma, and potentially harassment or violence, and violate their privacy by revealing their transgender status to others.
“Upon learning about the school’s proposed green wristband practice, A.W. felt sickened and afraid.
“He was aware of the prevalence of violent attacks against transgender people nationwide, and grew very afraid that the school would attempt to force him to wear the wristband on penalty of discipline.
“If he did wear the wristband, he knew that other students would likely ask him repeatedly why he was wearing it, and he would have to explain over and over that he is transgender.
“He expected that some students would stare, and others would outright ridicule him. He felt like his safety would be even more threatened if he had to wear this visible badge of his transgender status.”
The school board has not yet responded, according to the Wahsington Post.
