Bathrooms controversy could scrap park plans

Critics: School proposed as Scottsdale partner has ‘anti-transgender’ policy

A city wrestling with how to embrace its transgender community is considering a partnership with a charter school that critics say is “anti-transgender.”

The debate over a Scottsdale park has triggered a larger conversation about how the city and its schools protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents. The situation can be seen as a microcosm of the conflicts playing out across the country.

Scottsdale leaders are exploring a park in the DC Ranch community in partnership with Great Hearts Academies. The charter school’s Scottsdale Preparatory Academy would get to use athletic fields on the city-owned land, and residents would get a new park out of the deal.

Christine Irish, DC Ranch Community Council executive director, said the community is waiting for Great Hearts to submit a new park design before the potential project could go to the city for approval.

Opponents object to the city doing business with a charter school that, among other policies, prohibits transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Scottsdale officials shouldn’t engage in business deals with an organization that can “discriminate against people based on who they are,” American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona communications director Steve Kilar said in an email to The Arizona Republic.

The ACLU in April sent a letter of complaint to the city about the possible partnership with Great Hearts and its “discriminatory, anti-transgender policy.”

Erik Twist, Great Hearts chief inno-

vation officer and senior vice president of advocacy, said Great Hearts would include single-unit, gender-neutral bathrooms at the park. But it would not be a Great Hearts park, he said. “The park will be governed by Scottsdale,” he said.

The Great Hearts park proposal has renewed discussion about Scottsdale’s anti-discrimination policies.

Scottsdale city code protects city employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the City Council has not extended such a non-discrimination ordinance citywide.

Councilwoman Linda Milhaven said she sees the need for one, pointing to issues beyond bathrooms. For example, the owners of a now-closed Scottsdale wine bar are being sued in federal court for alleged discrimination against a gay employee.

The federal government offers some protections for employees, and cities such as Phoenix, Tempe, Tucson and Flagstaff have passed city ordinances to add protections for LGBT residents in employment, housing and public accommodations, and for private companies holding city contracts.

In Arizona, Democratic lawmakers have pushed for non-discrimination laws, though they haven’t gone far. In Scottsdale, city leaders killed a potential non-discrimination ordinance last year.

So, which level of government should provide LGBT protections, and what those protections should include, is far from settled in Arizona or across the nation. That was brought into focus when President Donald Trump recently tweeted that “the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”

While a vote on the park may be in the City Council’s future, it doesn’t appear a majority is eager to bring up a non-discrimination ordinance again.

Mayor Jim Lane said the most important thing people can do is treat one another respectfully. “All this labeling is having a tendency to create a division,” he said. “I think the main thing is to be a united people and treat people right.”

Although the decision on the potential park isn’t yet before elected officials, some have pledged to vote against the park if Great Hearts doesn’t alter its bathroom policy.

Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield in April announced she opposed the policy and said if the charter school doesn’t change it, she won’t vote for the park.

“I don’t want children harmed,” she said. “I believe all American citizens have equal rights . ... Why would I support a school that discriminates against children?”

Likewise, Councilwoman Virginia Korte said she wouldn’t vote for the park if the school’s policy is in place. “I will not enter into an agreement if that policy is not changed,” Korte said.

Others don’t see the policy as a dealbreaker. Milhaven said Great Hearts officials have been easy to work with and have shown a willingness to change their rules in accordance with the law. “Caring people have different opinions of what a caring policy looks like,” she said.

Lane said voting against the park because of the policy would be discriminatory, because Great Hearts hasn’t violated any city code or ordinance of which he is aware.

“People may do it anyway, but announcing it ahead of time shows they’re targeting an institution that hasn’t done anything wrong,” he said.

Littlefield said Lane was right that Great Hearts hasn’t violated a code or ordinance, but she said voting against the park would not be discriminatory.

“He is correct — we don’t have an ordinance as far as LGBT ordinance, except for employment by the city,” she said. “I wouldn’t say that (voting against the park is) discriminating. I would say that it’s not the policy the city has for itself.”

Korte said, “This isn’t about city code or violating a city ordinance; this is about violating an individual’s rights . ... It transcends any ordinance or law. It’s all about what is fair and right and morally correct.”

While Great Hearts laid out a policy on the matter, some Arizona school districts have no policy.

The Scottsdale Unified School District does not have a specific bathroom policy but provides single-unit, genderneutral bathrooms, according to a district spokeswoman.

Asked if a transgender student could use the bathroom that corresponds with his or her gender identity, spokeswoman Erin Helm said, “Our staff works with students on a case-by-case basis to protect the rights and privacy of the individual student.”

In the written response, Helm said there is no simple answer. “Most of our transgender students are most comfortable using gender-neutral restrooms,” she said.

The Arizona School Boards Association, which provides policy guidance to districts, suggested a policy last year after a President Barack Obama-era directive called on public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The ASBA’s recommended policy was to let transgender students use the facilities consistent with their gender identity. The recommended policy also notes that single-user facilities could be made available to all students, “but it may not, however, require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so.”

Trump’s administration rescinded the Obama-era guidance in February, saying certain issues were best handled below the federal level.

That decision led the U.S. Supreme Court to halt its plan to hear a case regarding a transgender student’s bathroom rights this past spring.

In June, Scottsdale resident Robert Chevaleau asked City Council members to reconsider adopting a non-discrimination ordinance, because he feared his transgender daughter would face discrimination.

“Both my transgender child and my cisgender child ought to be able to live in the city we love and know that it loves them back,” he said.

Chevaleau, 41, is the president of the Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization, a non-profit support group for the families of transgender children. The group advocates for “transgenderfriendly” policies in schools.

He and his wife pulled their older, cisgender daughter out of Great Hearts last year. They hoped to send their transgender daughter to a Great Hearts school this fall, but chose not to when they learned of the school’s policy.

“If you’re open to the public, you need to hold yourself to a certain set of standards,” he said.