The FISD board of trustees adopted a policy Nov. 14 which states that to the extent permitted by law, each multiple-occupancy bathroom or changing facility owned or operated by the district should only be used by persons based on his or her biological sex. Trustees adopted the policy unanimously.
The policy does not prohibit the district from making reasonable accommodations upon request. This includes letting transgender students use single-occupancy restrooms, such as those found in the nurse’s office.
In the complaint, the ACLU of Texas calls for the Office for Civil Rights of the national education department to investigate FISD’s bathroom policy and whether it discriminated against students on the basis of sex. The complaint claims the policy will “harm transgender, non-binary, gender diverse and intersex students, and substantially invade their privacy.”
The complaint alleges that the district’s policy was “enacted specifically to discriminate against transgender, non-binary, gender diverse, and intersex students” and also takes issue with the policy’s use of “biological sex,” which the complaint states is “not a term that is defined in either state or federal law.”
"The district is erasing trans and nonbinary [students] in school and sending the message they are different and further opening them to bullying and creating an environment they don’t belong,” said Kate Huddleston, a staff attorney for ACLU of Texas.
More information about FISD’s bathroom policies can be found via its website.
FISD has not yet received notice of the official complaint from the Office of Civil Rights, according to an email from a district spokesperson. The email referenced the Nov. 14 meeting where a representative of FISD's external legal counsel said the policy would leave room for the district to accommodate a student in using a restroom that aligns with their gender identity.
