Transgender youth: ‘Forced outing’ bills make schools unsafe

TULSA, Okla. — Al Stone-Gebhardt worked hard in school to make sure he graduates in May, and he spent hundreds of dollars on commencement regalia, but he is fully prepared not to participate in the ceremony.

The 17-year-old, who is transgender, said he feared his high school, Tulsa Union, might use his deadname — the name he was given at birth but no longer uses — on his diploma and during the ceremony instead of his legally changed name. He has had teachers call him by his birth name, sometimes inadvertently, and said he finds the experience traumatizing.

“Being deadnamed just immediately makes you feel belittled, weak and insignificant,” StoneGebhardt said. “I didn’t want to be in the classroom. I didn’t trust the teacher.”

The Associated Press contacted the school about Stone-Gebhardt’s fears, as well as concerns from his mother, who felt she was getting the runaround when she tried to discuss the issue with the school officials. A spokesperson said the school will work with his parents to make sure his correct name is used.

As hundreds of bills nationwide take aim at nearly every facet of transgender existence, from health care to athletics to bathroom access, trans kids and their families say certain proposals could eliminate one of the last remaining safe havens to explore their identities: K-12 public schools.

Several “parental rights ” proposals, which aim to give parents greater control over their children’s education, would formally allow or require schools to deadname trans students or out them to their parents without consent. While some parents and teachers argue they have a right to know, others warn it could jeopardize the mental health and physical safety of gender-nonconforming children and place educators in the crosshairs.

More than 25 proposals introduced across 14 states include provisions permitting teachers or fellow students not to honor the name and pronouns that align with a student’s gender identity. Some of those proposals and other standalone measures, including at least two at the federal level, would require parental permission to use different identifiers. At least a dozen would also require schools to alert parents of gender identity changes in most circumstances, which trans students like Stone-Gebhardt say would strip them of their privacy and autonomy.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education proposed new rules this year that would require parental notification if a child begins expressing gender identity questions. A similar proposal in the North Carolina legislature, where Republicans are just one seat shy of the supermajority they need to override any veto from the Democratic governor, passed the Senate last month and is now in the House.

They mirror laws enacted last year in Florida and Alabama, and guidelines in Virginia, that prohibit schools from withholding gender identity information. Florida Republicans advanced legislation this week that would expand the law critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay ” to prohibit schools from addressing students with pronouns that don’t align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Some education officials support the idea of notifying parents about identity changes. Education guidelines on social transitioning, including when to involve parents, vary widely across states and school districts. Such proposals would provide uniformity that some educators say is currently lacking.

“As a parent, I’d absolutely want to know that, and I think most parents do,” said Ginger Tinney, executive director of Professional Oklahoma Educators, a nonpartisan association that represents educators from across the state. “When it comes to serious stuff like this, this tells me the child is struggling with some major issues, and they need their mom and dad to know.”

Supporters of the North Carolina bill have repeatedly pointed to an exception that would prevent parents from accessing school records if there’s reason to believe it would lead to abuse or neglect.