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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A roiling political fight that began last month isn't showing signs of abating after GOP state lawmakers discovered draft voluntary guidelines from the State Board of Education that included recommendations on how to address transgender K-12 students who want to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
Escanaba Republican Sen. Tom Casperson said he's firmly committed to introducing legislation to stop kids sharing bathrooms who are "biologically different." That is despite the political and now potentially economic fallout after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed legislation prohibiting sexual orientation-based anti-discrimination protections. The law also requires transgender people to use the bathroom matching the sex on their birth certificates in government buildings and schools.
Not even the Obama administration's consideration of cutting billions of dollars in federal aid for schools, highways and housing over North Carolina's new gay and transgender law dissuades Casperson. He was appalled when he discovered the proposed State Board of Education guidelines that suggested schools could — if they so choose — allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice and refer to students by the pronouns they request.
Casperson said transgender students should be able to use staff facilities or their own bathrooms only with parental consent, and that they should be barred from using bathrooms that don't match their birth certificate.
"Maybe, there's something there that's just not normal," Casperson said. "And normal's not the right word. Maybe there's something there that's just not right, where we're mixing these kids together."
House Speaker Kevin Cotter and other Republicans in the Legislature also spoke out against the draft and voluntary guidelines last month, when a House committee voted to strip reimbursement funding for the State Board of Education's travel expenses. The State Board is an elected, unpaid body of officials that makes recommendations for the state's K-12 schools and oversees the state department.
"(Parents) have very real concerns about allowing their children to officially change their name or their gender without parental approval," Cotter said in a statement. "The Department ignored those concerns, wrote a policy proposal that specifically cuts parents out of the process and appears uninterested in hearing from them going forward.
An online public comment section for the guidelines shows overwhelmingly negative responses, though there is no way to ensure that only Michigan residents comment. Many seem to fear the prospect of males using girls' bathrooms. The site shows nearly 7,000 comments so far and lets people post until May 11.
If Republicans push forward with a plan to restrict transgender students from using bathrooms of their choice, it could entail federal civil rights violations, said John Austin, State Board of Education president. Austin said the guidelines were prompted in part to make sure Michigan schools comply with federal civil rights law. Austin said it's also meant to ensure that schools are safe places for all students.
Austin said Casperson's bill would be "damaging for young students" and that it could further ostracize students who are at-risk for suicide, depression and bullying.
"We don't want to be another North Carolina," Austin said.
It was Michigan teacher of the year Rick Joseph's idea to come up with a guideline list for schools determining how to accommodate transgender students.
Joseph, a self-described reformed "homophobe," said his perspective shifted after meeting a gay person years ago. He said he's now committed to making sure students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have a good learning environment.
"I came to (John Austin) because I felt that if the State Board of Education were able to propose guidelines statewide, it would enable more districts to avail themselves of resources that frankly have existed for 15 years," said Joseph, who teaches fifth and sixth grade at Birmingham Covington School. He calls the need to allow transgender students to express their gender identity and use the bathrooms of their choice a "moral imperative."
"They're not deviants or freaks," Joseph said. "They're just people."
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