Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 18:08:05 EDT Subject: Take Action: Transgender Youth Suspened from School From: owner-action@gpac.org GenderPAC 332 Bleecker St., #K-86, NY, NY 10014-2980 212-645-2686 gpac@gpac.org -- http://www.gpac.org Action@GPAC Special Online Edition -- May 9, 2000 ====================================== TAKE ACTION! TAKE ACTION! TAKE ACTION! ====================================== Code of Discrimination A 17-year-old transgender youth in Gresham, Oregon was suspended from school after coming to class on April 21 dressed in a skirt and low-heeled pumps. Officials from Sam Barlow High School claim the suspension was warranted because Brian-Violet Peters (s/he has used both names) violated the school's dress code, which bans "disruptive" or "distracting" clothing. According to gender rights activists, however, discrimination is the real culprit. GenderPAC's executive director Riki Wilchins said, "How does a boy wearing a dress and suffering daily taunts and harassment differ from the first girl who wore pants to school suffering intense sexual harassment? This issue is not disruption¹ but genderphobic school officials." While school officials reprimanded some of Peters' classmates for their taunts and created a new "respect policy," which includes punishment for harassment of gay students, the school has closed the door on transgender students. Defending the school's decision to suspend Peters, Linda Jessell, director of secondary education for the Gresham-Barlow school district was quoted in the Portland Oregonian (May 3, 2000) as saying, "We can restrict student expression and dress when it disrupts the learning environment for other kids." Peters responded, "The message [school administrators] are sending to students is that I am not normal. That I am disruptive. That I am wrong." Peters has reportedly declined to return to Gresham High School because of the suspension and harassment, and the school is said to be making provisions for either at-home tutoring, Internet courses or after-school sessions. GenderPAC's Riki Wilchins concludes, "Segregating, stigmatizing and publicly punishing youth because they transcend narrow gender stereotypes is unacceptable. Every American should have the right to express their gender orientation free from stereotypes, discrimination and violence." Please email Linda Jessell to educate her and the Gresham-Barlow school district about gender. Linda Jessell, Director of Secondary Education Gresham-Barlow School District Email to: Linda_Jessell@gbsd.gresham.k12.or.us ------------------------------------------------------ Action@GPAC is GenderPAC's call to action. GenderPAC's action alerts are sent out to everyone on our e-mailing list on a monthly basis. Our action alerts will give brief summaries of gender news from around the country with an option to participate in a coordinated effort to take action. Gender Public Advocacy Coalition is the national organization working to guarantee every American's civil right to express their gender orientation free of stereotypes, discrimination and violence. ------- To be removed from this list, send an e-mail to majordomo@gpac.org with the following text in the message body (without the quotes or brackets): "unsubscribe action [your@email.here]"