Update: Colo. School District Weighs New Transgender Proposal

Florence, CO–A school district near Colorado Springs that has been under fire from parents has been presented with a new proposed policy that could bring some resolution to a conflict over privacy rights and gender identity.

Attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute, who represent families concerned about their teenage daughters sharing bathrooms and locker rooms with a biological teenage boy at Florence High School, submitted a draft policy on privacy to school officials. The policy seeks to harmonize assertions of gender identity with overriding constitutional privacy rights.

“The opposition has grappled to paint us as hateful people for simply wanting to protect the privacy of all children. We recognize that there are those who sincerely struggle with identifying with their natural gender—and we’re sympathetic to their challenges—but it doesn’t change the fact of their biological sex. As such, this policy will help ensure that not just some, but all students have the privacy they deserve,” said Brad Dacus, President of PJI.

This week, an attorney for the school district acknowledged that the policy proposal had been received (after being submitted by PJI before Christmas) and would be weighed by school board members. The school board, however, has not yet indicated whether it will formally take up and vote on the measure.

Parents at the school contacted PJI last fall after learning of a biological male using the girls’ school bathrooms, and subsequently having school administrators erroneously tell them that the transgender student’s rights trump the privacy rights of their daughters. PJI represents these families free of charge and aims to ensure that their privacy rights are not trampled upon.

Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to defending religious, parental, and other constitutional rights. 

P.O. Box 276600 Sacramento, CA 95827-6600
Phone: (916) 857-6900 Fax: (916) 857-6902
www.pji.org