California Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Guarantee Transgender Students Rights

If passed, this would be the first bill of its kind in the United States.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, of San Diego, California, introduced a bill last week in the state Legislature that would give transgender students ?the right to use public school restrooms and participate on the sports teams that correspond with their expressed genders,?? no matter what their gender is listed as on school records. According to the Associated Press,

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a policy last week granting the same protections, but Ammiano?s bill is believed to be the first to explicitly spell them out as a matter of state law.

It is already illegal to discriminate against transgender people in California, but because the laws already in place don?t go into specifics concerning students rights to have access to ?facilities and activities that reflect their gender identity or gender expression,? Masen Davis, the executive director of the Transgender Law Center said, ?it?s important to clarify this right.? Supporters of the legislation say it is ?necessary,? because without it school districts may try to ?deny students opportunities to participate in activities or to feel welcome on campus.?

Photo: mikebaird/Flickr

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