President Trump's withdrawal of the directive on treatment of transgenders by schools and the return of that issue to state control is having the intended effect. Today, Connecticut governor Dan Malloy issued an order directing the state's schools to consider bathrooms, locker rooms and showers to be public accommodations. In other words, from now on, the bathrooms, locker rooms and showers in schools must be open to students who identify as a particular sex no matter what their biological sex is. A teenage boy who identifies as a female can now shower with the girls in the locker room if he wants. The order doesn't say this, but it seems as if that same boy who identifies as a girl can now also play on the girls' sports teams. A girl who identifies as a boy will have the same rights in reverse.
This is a very good thing. Don't get me wrong, I think the order by Malloy is idiotic. There is no reason why the rights of the transgender student outweigh the rights of all the other students who will be made to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed by having that transgender student in the showers with them. It would be fine to have a separate section of a locker room, showers, and bathrooms for transgenders; in that way the rest of the students would not be affected. Malloy, however, is going all out to force Connecticut students to accept the presence of the transgenders. Still, this is a decision by the government of the state. It lets the people of Connecticut make their own decision about how to proceed on this issue. We are not stuck accepting the views of California or Idaho on the issue. We decide for our own children.
I strongly suspect that this is going to become an issue in the next election for governor. I doubt that even in Connecticut, there are too many people who think that it is fine to force kids to share locker rooms and showers with children whose bodies are of the opposite sex. We will see in 2018 how this plays out. At least with the return of local control, we will have a chance to make the choice ourselves.
This is a very good thing. Don't get me wrong, I think the order by Malloy is idiotic. There is no reason why the rights of the transgender student outweigh the rights of all the other students who will be made to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed by having that transgender student in the showers with them. It would be fine to have a separate section of a locker room, showers, and bathrooms for transgenders; in that way the rest of the students would not be affected. Malloy, however, is going all out to force Connecticut students to accept the presence of the transgenders. Still, this is a decision by the government of the state. It lets the people of Connecticut make their own decision about how to proceed on this issue. We are not stuck accepting the views of California or Idaho on the issue. We decide for our own children.
I strongly suspect that this is going to become an issue in the next election for governor. I doubt that even in Connecticut, there are too many people who think that it is fine to force kids to share locker rooms and showers with children whose bodies are of the opposite sex. We will see in 2018 how this plays out. At least with the return of local control, we will have a chance to make the choice ourselves.
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