No one spoke against requiring middle and high schools to designate restrooms for cross-dressing and sexually mutilated (a.k.a. transgendered) children at a recent Vermont Human Rights Commission hearing.
“The hope is that this is the first statewide gender-neutral bathroom campaign in the country.”
-- From "Transgender teen wants genderless bathrooms" by The Associated Press 8/28/09
Kyle Giard-Chase, 16, asked the Vermont Human Rights Commission on Thursday to endorse the effort.
The commission expressed some sympathy toward the plight of young people whose struggles with gender identity make them uncomfortable using gender-specific bathrooms, but it didn’t take any action.
Joseph Benning, chairman of the commission’s board, told Kyle he should prepare to deal with resistance from school officials who wouldn’t have the resources to change school bathrooms.
No opponents of the idea attended the meeting, although Benning said they would be welcomed at future meetings.
Kyle is working with the Burlington-based group Outright Vermont, a social service organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.
A Vermont Department of Education spokesman couldn’t find anyone to answer questions about the issue on Thursday.
Vermont was the first state in the country that allowed same sex couples to form civil unions and earlier this year the Legislature approved same-sex marriage. State law also includes the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2007.
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