Tennessee lawmakers continue relentless attack on trans youth | Opinion
Once again, youth in Tennessee are under attack.
The Tennessee state legislature is back at it again this week, attempting to pass a bill that would allow K-12 teachers and staff to ignore students’ pronouns.
Everybody has pronouns, and for those of you who have had Zoom meetings since the pandemic, you may have seen people add their pronouns next to their name. Pronouns are how you refer to others (he, she, they, etc.), and we use them for ourselves and for others.
The proposed bill, HB2633, states that a teacher or employee of a K-12 school “is not required to use a student's preferred pronoun when referring to the student if the preferred pronoun is not consistent with the student's biological sex.”
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How would such a law be enforced?
As an educator, my first question is: How will teachers and school personnel know a student’s biological sex?
A birth certificate may be the answer here, but many states allow people to change the gender on their birth certificates to reflect their actual gender identity. Another option would be to ask students, but students can refuse to share such information, as Title IX protects students based on their gender identity.
More: Trans Awareness Week: How Tennessee law makes LGBTQ citizens' journey hard | Plazas
Not to mention, my role as an educator is not to question or interrogate someone’s identity. As a trans person, my next question is: Why do Tennessee lawmakers insist on viciously attacking trans Tennesseans, specifically trans youth? Every bill, every negative comment hurts. I don’t think lawmakers understand that trans people are real people with real feelings.
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Now, let’s get to the facts:
Trans youth are nearly four times more likely to experience bullying and miss school due to safety concerns compared to cisgender youth.
Trans youth have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation due to societal stigma and marginalization.
Research has shown that 30%-50% of trans youth report a suicide attempt, which may be upward of 75,000 youth as there are estimated to be 150,000 trans youth in the U.S.
However, when schools support a trans youth’s social transition by using the student’s correct name and pronouns, they report better mental health outcomes and a feeling of belongingness at school.
The more contexts (e.g., home, school) in which trans youth experience support (i.e., correct pronouns used), the less they experience depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and behavior.
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Here are 2 steps educators can take to help trans youth
Recently, the Society for Research and Child Development published a set of policy recommendations urging schools to implement policies that create supportive environments for trans youth.
Two relevant policies and practices recommended for school staff are the following:
Allow students to change their name and gender on their legal documents and in their school files
Implement training for school personnel on topics related to affirming gender identity and expression
By implementing and enforcing these policies and practices, trans youth show more positive outcomes in school environments, as these policies protect youth from discrimination and affirm who they are.
Additionally, passing this bill could result in the loss of federal funding. According to U.S. Department of Education, the requirements of this legislation could be in violation of Title IX and Department of Education policies and could jeopardize annual federal funding. The 2021-2022 federal awards totaled $5,385,248,493.
Thus, the passing of this bill could result in Tennessee losing over 5 billion dollars toward public education.
Ultimately, all students have a right to their identities. This includes trans and nonbinary students. It is bad public policy to pass laws encouraging school personnel to ignore the identities of students.
School personnel should not have the right to determine the identities of others and whether those identities are worthy of respect. Doing so would give the government a monopoly on saying who students are, which is contrary to basic rights and an individual's autonomy.
It harms no one to use a student’s pronouns; but it does harm students when school personnel don’t use their pronouns.
Act NOW by telling lawmakers to vote NO on HB2633 by signing this email: https://ujoin.co/campaigns/1698/actions/public?action_id=1739
Brendon T. Holloway is a social worker, educator, and trans person who grew up in Tennessee and graduated from MTSU in 2015
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: LGBTQ in Tennessee: Lawmakers continue their attack on trans youths
