APS Transgender Policy

[Anonymous]

I posted earlier about a girl at the local high school who identifies as non-binary who decided she wanted to run for prom king instead of prom queen. The principal said no because she does not identify as male. This was two years ago, I think if this happened now he might make another decision out of fear of being labeled a bigot.

[Anonymous]

I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people calling being trans/gay/non binary trendy. Sure it is trendy to have a large percentage of the population automatically hate you. It is trendy to have higher than average suicide rates. It is trendy to have higher than normal risk of being the subject of violence.

I can totally see why someone would want all that.

Honey, this isn’t Omaha. This is Arlington..99.9 % of APS parents are thrilled to make everyone feel welcome. They just don’t like cheating. That’s all.

Don't honey me. I was responding to comments calling it trendy and that is it. I was not responding to comments about sports which I think is legitimate. And there have been transgender women murdered just across the river, so don't act like we are in some amazing place of tolerance. Hatred exists everywhere and the risk of being trans exist everywhere.

I would go further PP in your response. APS parents may think they make people feel welcome, but these projections about these "boys" intruding into women's spaces and being cheaters are inherently not welcoming or nice.

There are very few, if any, posts about the sports issue (which absolutely does need a look at!) which does not rely heavily on polarizing, often hateful speech--cheating, aggressive, spot stealing, NOT WOMEN are ruining women's athletics and feminism. That is the main spiel, not "Can we separate this inclusive APS policy statement from the sports issue, and talk about ways to solve this problem."

By bringing the sports issue up in this thread, they are clearly deflecting from inclusiveness with a red herring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

Typed by someone who doesn’t have now, nor never will have a competitive xx girl athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

Ok, then what do you think the policy should be for non-binary students? Should a boy who identifies as non-binary and not female be allowed to join girls' chorus? Maybe his reason for choosing girls' chorus instead of boys is because the schedule works better for him. Since he's not a boy or a girl, why shouldn't he be able to choose which he wants to join? You really think all Arlington parents are totally cool with scenarios like this?

[Anonymous]

Ok.
Quick and easy fix:

Chart it out.
Have xy girl athletes test for lung capacity, muscle mass, height, and weight.
If they fail within the parameters of traditional xx girl numbers ( or even exceptional) they can play.

How about that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

Ok, then what do you think the policy should be for non-binary students? Should a boy who identifies as non-binary and not female be allowed to join girls' chorus? Maybe his reason for choosing girls' chorus instead of boys is because the schedule works better for him. Since he's not a boy or a girl, why shouldn't he be able to choose which he wants to join? You really think all Arlington parents are totally cool with scenarios like this?

Maybe, just not run? If you choose to be non-binary, then you choose to miss out on some things. This is not difficult.

Very shy kids generally do not get elected as Prom King or Queen. Seldom do special needs kids get chosen either. Or, really poor kids. Just a fact. Not necessarily fair, but fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, do you realize that a kid does not need to be taking hormones or under a doctor's care to claim they are transgender? (even the old-fashioned type of transgender of identifying with the opposite sex, not non-binary)

So a kid could be going through a confusing spell, not seeing a psychiatrist and decide that he's transgender and the school would need to treat him that way, because that's just what he says.

And?

[Anonymous]

This is an issue that is still in question. Psychiatrists, etc. are still working this out. There is no real science on this yet.

For the time being, trans kids may have to wait this out. Especially when it comes to girls' sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

Typed by someone who doesn’t have now, nor never will have a competitive xx girl athlete.

+1 by a parent of one and yes, not only do we live in Arlington, but in fact, we live in Cherrydale!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

South Arlington homeowner here. Working mother of 2- one girl, one boy. I worry about raising my girl much more than my boy because I worry about doing the right things to make her a strong, self-confident, independent woman.

Generally speaking I support APS’s proposed policy with the exception of the sports teams. Reading they this thread I think a lot of posters would agree with me. I’m not saying trans girls should be banned from participating in girls sports. I don’t want to see anyone excluded from pursuing their interests. I would just argue there’s a better policy to put in place than the current proposed one, one that protects and encourages all girls.

I don’t think this thread is being hijacked by “outsiders.” There are many reasonable voices on either side of the argument. Hopefully that is what will eventually come through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people calling being trans/gay/non binary trendy. Sure it is trendy to have a large percentage of the population automatically hate you. It is trendy to have higher than average suicide rates. It is trendy to have higher than normal risk of being the subject of violence.

I can totally see why someone would want all that.

Honey, this isn’t Omaha. This is Arlington..99.9 % of APS parents are thrilled to make everyone feel welcome. They just don’t like cheating. That’s all.

People don't realize that it's not like that anymore among the HS/College age crowd. I sub at various high schools and there is absolutely no social risk to being trans. I know it seems hard to believe but it really is true. And for non-binary, well - it really is a trend. Almost every alternative, emo kid is non-binary or genderfluid now. I really don't think adults have any idea how common this has become.

In your experience. Good lord the naïveté is astonishing. Get out of your bubble.

DP- The bubble we are discussing is Arlington.
Lack of awareness and insensitivity elsewhere is not relevant to this discussion.

I’m addressing pp’s assertion that it’s not like that among the “hs/college age crowd.”

Thanks, and I’ll just put this right here:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6803a3.htm

DP here. This is a quote from the link:
Some examples of elevated sexual risk emerged among transgender students. More transgender than cisgender students reported first sexual intercourse before age 13 years and having had four or more sex partners, and more transgender students than cisgender female students reported ever having had sexual intercourse and use of alcohol or drugs before last sexual intercourse. Transgender students were more likely than were cisgender students to forego pregnancy prevention at last sexual intercourse and were less likely than were cisgender males to use a condom at last sexual intercourse; however, without further information about the sex and gender identities of these youths and their partners, the risk implications of these results are uncertain and should be interpreted with caution. Transgender students were more likely to have ever received an HIV test, an important protective behavior, given the known higher HIV risk experienced by this population (3).

These are concerning behaviors. However, this is a big correlation/causation issue. It is assumed that status as trans somehow "causes" these risky behaviors (through no fault of the individual necessarily, but rather due to bullying/predators and lack of access to care or whatever). Another possible interpretation is that these behaviors, including identifying as trans, are correlated with one another and share a common cause (e.g., trauma).

Similar issue with the suicide rate stat. It is assumed one is suicidal because one is trans, but no one really knows if these individuals would be suicidal anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

Ok, then what do you think the policy should be for non-binary students? Should a boy who identifies as non-binary and not female be allowed to join girls' chorus? Maybe his reason for choosing girls' chorus instead of boys is because the schedule works better for him. Since he's not a boy or a girl, why shouldn't he be able to choose which he wants to join? You really think all Arlington parents are totally cool with scenarios like this?

If the person can sing in the range of one of the parts and wants to be in girls chorus, who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry that much of this thread is being trolled and animated by voices outside of Arlington. It reminds me of when a gun store was planning to open in Cherrydale and the NRA started giving the issue national coverage and a lot of non-Arlington voices entered the conversation. I find it very difficult to believe that there are a lot of residents sufficiently concerned about the transgender policy issue that they would devote the time and energy to fighting APS’s proposed policy.

Ok, then what do you think the policy should be for non-binary students? Should a boy who identifies as non-binary and not female be allowed to join girls' chorus? Maybe his reason for choosing girls' chorus instead of boys is because the schedule works better for him. Since he's not a boy or a girl, why shouldn't he be able to choose which he wants to join? You really think all Arlington parents are totally cool with scenarios like this?

If the person can sing in the range of one of the parts and wants to be in girls chorus, who cares?

I majored in voice and I agree with this.
Mostly because most boys won’t be able to match tone and timbre, so it’s a non issue. So if by chance a boy can hack it, fine. They are at a disadvantage. It’s not the same. Not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, do you realize that a kid does not need to be taking hormones or under a doctor's care to claim they are transgender? (even the old-fashioned type of transgender of identifying with the opposite sex, not non-binary)

So a kid could be going through a confusing spell, not seeing a psychiatrist and decide that he's transgender and the school would need to treat him that way, because that's just what he says.

And?

And, being that someone can simply claim to be the opposite sex and they have to be treated as such. It used to be that one needed to be under a doctor's or psychiatrist care and be shown as having gender dysphoria. Now anyone can claim to be whatever they want. And we have to accept it as fact.