School District Tells Obama Administration to Stick It, Won’t Allow Transgender Man to Shower With Girls

A lawsuit between federal officials and Chicago’s Township High School District 211 might cost the school district up to $6 million of federal funding, but it won’t cost the district its manhood.

This began when a transgendered student filed a complaint with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) after the student was restricted from using sex-assigned locker rooms for changing and showering. The student who filed the complaint has not been identified yet, but it was alleged that the student is a biological male who has been living as a girl for a few years.

The OCR made a ruling requiring the school district to allow unrestricted access to all sex-assigned locker rooms and showers before and after physical education classes and after school activities. The district’s actions in having enforced the sex-assigned bathroom rules, the OCR said, were inadequate and discriminatory toward the transgendered student.

Tom Petersen, director of community relations at Township High School, told The Daily Wire that the school will not recognize the OCR’s ruling.

“We stand against it and we stand to lose federal funding up to $6 million,” he said.

Daniel E. Cates, the superintendent of the high school district in Palatine, Illinois, announced in a press release that the school district will provide private bathrooms to accommodate the transgendered student, but will not allow unrestricted access to the locker rooms.

“After serious and lengthy consideration,” Cates wrote, “the District will continue to provide private accommodations for transgender students to ensure a respectful school environment, and will not allow unrestricted access to its locker rooms as directed by OCR.”

Cates said that the OCR’s position does not consider the best interests of the district’s families and 12,000+ students in attendance.

The Thomas More Society and the Alliance Defending Freedom have sent a letter in support of the high school district’s policy on Monday, providing a legal argument in support of the school’s policy.

Peter Breen, an attorney for the Thomas Moore Society, called the school’s decision “common sense”, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“The federal government leaves the decision to the local school district,” Breen said.

The ACLU whined that the district may not use private restrooms to separate transgendered students from their peers. “Transgender students now are a part of everyday American life as society has become more accepting of all kinds of differences,” John Knight, the ACLU representative of the student, said in a press statement. “Instead of ostracizing these students and singling them out from their fellow students, schools and communities need to embrace kids who are different and ensure that all are able to be safe, be themselves, and succeed in school.”

The lawsuit is ongoing, but the school district has affirmed that it will continue protecting its students, parents, and decency.