Transgender rule rollback worries North Texas LGBT community
Members and allies of North Texas’ LGBT community are worried after the White House announced plans Wednesday to take back federal guidelines for transgender students.
The Trump administration will revoke federal guidelines forcing public schools to allow transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity. The White House insists there will still be federal protection in place against bullying, but LGBT North Texans remain guarded.
"This is really bad news for transgendered students and it leaves them open to additional harassment and discrimination in the educational environment,” said Rafael McDonnell with The Resource Center.
The Resource Center in Dallas is concerned about leaving the issue up to states to decide because Texas Republicans are vowing to create a state law requiring people to use the bathrooms that match their birth certificates -- not their gender identity.
Jennifer Campisi, the mother of a transgender child, is worried. Her 10-year-old son E.J. was born a girl.
"He's just a regular kid. He does regular boy stuff, he plays with his friends he on all sorts of sports teams. But when he goes to school and has to use a different bathroom it keeps him separate," she said. "Every single place in life we go, he uses the boys’ bathroom. It is totally uneventful and when he goes to school, he has to use a different bathroom."
Campisi believes the growing controversy over transgendered people is a civil rights issue.
"Transgendered kids should have the same access in life that every other child has and they should be able to go to school and focus on learning, that's the bottom line,” Campisi said. “That's what I want for my son."