Thursday, April 28, 2016

Florida School vs. Obama Transgender Bathroom Regs

This week, the Marion County Public Schools of Ocala, Florida enacted a policy in a direct challenge to President Obama's Department of Education heavy-handed edict that schools nationwide must allow men to use girl's restrooms, locker rooms, and showers.
"My concern is that some pervert looking for the opportunity to dress up as a transgender and [prey on] innocent children and because of their perverted action scars [our] children for life."
-- Parent testimony to school board

"There is no legal mandate requiring the district to override the privacy rights of students and concerns of parents, by permitting gender-confused (or attention-seeking) students to inappropriately use restrooms and facilities reserved for the opposite sex.  No school district has ever lost federal funding for maintaining gender-appropriate facilities, despite the claims of activists."
-- Roger K. Gannam, Liberty Counsel (offered to represent school board)
For background, read Department of Education Demands Communal Nudity in Public Schools Using Full Force of Federal Government and now Hillary Clinton Promises Even MORE 'Transgender/Gay Rights'

UPDATE 5/7/16: Illinois Parents Sue School and President Obama over his Transgender Restroom Edict

Also read how enclosed restrooms will soon be eliminated to protect women and children from sexual predators.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

President Obama's OSHA Teams Up with EEOC to OK Perverts in Employees' Restrooms

Washington, D.C.'s Bathroom 'Bigot Snitch' Law

Virginia Bathroom Privacy Bill Defeated in Legislature

Women's Voices Silenced: Washington Transgender Restrooms

Transgender Restrooms Evolve for South Dakota Schools



-- From "Marion school board blocks transgender kids from choosing restroom" by The Associated Press 4/26/16

A north Florida school board has approved a measure to limit restrooms to students based on their birth sex, not their gender identity.

Board member Carol Ely says transgender students shouldn't get to choose which restroom to use, adding it's "reverse discrimination."

The district started allowing transgender students to choose their restroom two months ago. But a parent claimed his son's privacy rights were being violated because he's not comfortable sharing a restroom with a student who was born female but now identifies as male.

Roger Gannam, an attorney for the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel, is representing the parent of the student who complained. He argued that there is no legal mandate requiring the district to permit transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Marion County School Board rules students must use restroom of biological gender" by Erik Sandoval and Troy Campbell, Reporters, WKMG-TV6 (Orlando, FL) 4/27/16


The new rule takes effect immediately, and the decision brought cheers from the hundreds who gathered at Tuesday night's school board meeting.

The school board resolution says transgender students are not protected by law and that students expect not to see people of the opposite sex in the bathroom.

School board vice chairwoman, Kelly King, said that the alternative [private/uni-sex] bathrooms are a safe place for transgender students. King also said she too expects lawsuits if the board approves the restriction.

"We know either way, we are probably going to have some lawsuits. You know, lawsuits regardless," King said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "ACLU warns Marion County Schools of possible legal issues with bathroom policy" posted at WCJB-TV20 (Gainesville, FL) 4/26/16

In a work session last week, four of the five board members voted to restrict school bathrooms to students based on their birth sex, not based on their gender identity. School Board Chairman Bobby James was the only dissenter and said he wanted to continue to treat transgender issues on a case-by-case basis.

The letter, written by ACLU of Florida LGBT rights staff attorney Daniel Tilley, warns that the policy would not only be harmful to students but would also "violate Title IX sex discrimination requirements, violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and jeopardize federal funding for the school district."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Bathroom ban imposed: School Board blocks transgender kids from choosing restrooms" by Joe Callahan, Staff writer, Ocala StarBanner 4/26/16

. . . Superintendent George Tomyn said the board should wait if they wanted this to be a rule, or policy, and that they were not following proper protocol. [Board member Nancy] Stacy said this was not a rule, but a resolution as a statement to the community. Stacy called for the vote and it passed 4-1.

The local issue began two months ago after the district started allowing transgender students to choose their bathroom, stating that the Office for Civil Rights has made it clear that transgender students have that right.

Two weeks ago, local veterinarian Hal Phillips appeared at a board work session and said his son's Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. Phillips said his son – who attends Vanguard High -- was not comfortable sharing a bathroom with a transgender student, who was born female but now identifies as being male.

The Fourth Amendment protects the privacy of all students, “including bodily privacy in the context of restrooms and locker rooms,” according to board attorney Steven Lake, who shared a PowerPoint about prior court cases at a recent work session.

[Attorney Roger] Gannam, wrote that “students with gender confusion who truly believes he or she is the opposite sex should be treated with care, compassion, and kindness, but must not be officially affirmed in his or her confusion, no matter how sincerely-held.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "A Florida school board just blocked transgender kids from choosing bathrooms" by Elahe Izadi, Washington Post 4/27/16

Conservative legal group Liberty Counsel represented the parent, Harrell “Hal” Phillips and his son, who the organization described as “devout Christians who believe strongly in both biblical modesty and constitutional privacy.”

Phillips’s son was “extremely upset” that a transgender student was using the boys’ bathroom, the group wrote. “This was a place where he has a reasonable expectation that he will not encounter the opposite sex. This deeply violated his religious beliefs of personal modesty and his constitutional rights to privacy.”

According to the measure, single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms designated for girls are restricted to people “who are biological females.” The same goes for facilities designated for boys and people “who are biological males.”

Students who want to use alternative facilities “shall always be offered comparable facilities, as required by law,” the measure states.

The measure also states that transgender individuals are “not a protected class” under the school district’s policies.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Transgender Students Now Have To Follow A New Bathroom Policy In Marion County" by Isabella Alsina, WUFT-TV5/WJUF-FM89.1 (PBS/NPR Gainesville, FL) 4/27/16

After 46 public comments, the board passed the resolution with a 4-1 vote. About 250 people cheered, sang Christian songs and waved banners that read, “God Belongs In My City.”

“The safety issue is the biggest,” said Carol Ely, the school board member for district 2. “Although nothing has happened yet, we’re going to see some things happening.”

Transgender students, former Marion County teachers, pastors, and concerned parents filled the meeting room, office, and parking lot of the school board’s building. Some wore Equality Florida stickers while most wore red stickers reading, “We Stand With God.”

“We cannot help that the Department of Education… is now working under an illegal, unadvertised rule,” said Nancy Stacy, school board member for District 1. “The Federal Department of Education doesn’t even have a right to constitutionally exist. I believe this rule is completely illegal.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read American Consumers Target Anti-family Business Favoring Transgenders

And read Transgenderism is a 'Delusion' According to Victims and Professionals