Student’s treatment shows harm of transphobic bill
As a parent, all I want is for my children to have opportunities. I want them to pursue their dreams and do so without barriers. As the parents and families support manager for Equality Florida, I take on the role to protect all LGBTQ+ children and families in the state, not just mine. The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act is a direct attack on the lives of transgender student athletes. This bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis requires all students to play on the teams of their gender assigned at birth regardless of their gender identity, gender markers on birth certificates, or progress in hormone therapy. We knew that this legislation was not created to increase fairness in women’s sports, but rather ostracize transgender students.
The harm of this bill was on full display last week when a
transgender girl was outed and removed from the girls’ volleyball team at Monarch High School. The Broward County School District utilized the vagueness of this bill to wield their own consequences, which included reassigning the principal, athletic director, and coach to new schools. An entire school was uprooted, not to mention the entire social and academic livelihood of this student.
The next day the student population gathered in protest of the district’s handling of the situation. They walked out in solidarity with their classmate, many not knowing this student is transgender until this incident. Now an entire school population is in disarray due to one negligent and damaging bill. The bill itself is transphobic and purposefully harmful. However, the handling of this on the part of the school board has deepened the wound.
A once thriving, popular, straight-A student athlete is refusing to go back to school. Her entire world has become undone around her all because she played volleyball. A beloved principal has now lost their position. Lives and jobs are being directly affected all due to a school supporting a student, whom many did not even know is transgender.
If we continue to allow legislators to enact harmful bills like this one, we will see direct devastation like this. LGBTQ+ students are just that, students. We must protect and fight for their access to all opportunities. My queer children deserve to live their best lives. We often see statistics of LGBTQ+ youth facing higher rates of suicide and depression. This is not because of being queer in itself, but because of the world around them that continues to police and restrict their existence.