GLOCESTER – A standing room only crowd gathered at the recent Foster-Glocester Regional School Committee meeting, most of whom were there to support LGBTQ and transgender rights in opposition to Westerly’s Robert Chiaradio. Chiaradio delivered a diatribe to the committee warning of rapes and lawsuits as a result of following the Rhode Island Department of Education’s regulations regarding transgender students’ rights.
“There’ll be a line of families, I promise you, lining up to sue you,” warned Chiaradio. “And I’ll be helping them should these policies not change. Your charge as a school committee is to support and protect all kids, not simply those who are confused with their sexual identity.”
Chiaradio went on to say that Title IX, which reinforces women’s rights, was designed to protect women from discrimination, not men who identify as women. He added that men or women who identify as opposite sexes are not actually males or females. The policies, he said, need to be changed or lawsuits will follow.
“This is not bigoted or hateful,” said Chiaradio. “It is truth.”
The policy states: “Some students may feel uncomfortable with a transgender student using the same sex-segregated restroom, locker room or changing facility. This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender student. School administrators and counseling staff should work with students to foster understanding of gender identity and to create a school culture that respects and values all students. Schools could consider gender-neutral restrooms and/or gender-neutral changing facility in the design of new schools and school renovations.”
The majority of attendees took exception to the remarks made by Chiaradio, including a young lady who identified herself only as Isabel.
“Despite Robert’s insistence, trans people are not a threat,” she said. “People like him are a threat to the trans and LGBT community as a whole. You may insist that what you say here are only words or ‘truths,’ but if you look at history you will know that those words and sometimes, ‘truths,’ can be terrible, terrible things.”
She went on to say that it is important to provide a safe haven for those students, and for all students for that matter, regardless of their gender identities.
Meredyth Whitty, who has two children who attend Fogarty Elementary School, praised the school for the way they handled students there, regardless of gender identity or other concerns.
“I want all kids to be treated equally,” Whitty said. “That includes transgender. I want all kids to feel they are part of the community. I think we are all better when we have compassion for other people. My kids are better off in a world where we defend the rights of others.”
Other residents questioned the attendance of people from out of town who were present to support Chiaradio’s ideas, including one woman, identified as Jennifer, who said the opinions of the community should be valued, not the opinions of out-of-towners. Others suggested religion was behind their views.
“A lot of this comes from people who wish to impose their views on Christianity,” said resident Ellen Kellner. “I’m all for separation of church and state.”
Kellner, who is a retired social worker, recalled how difficult it was for LGBTQ people in the past to reveal their identities because of fear of being harassed or worse.
Town Councilor Cheryl Greathouse, however, said she saw things differently.
“I think the 98 percent who identify from birth what they are born as have the right to their privacy,” she said. “There is not hatred for transgender kids. We accept them. Perhaps they are confused, and I hope as they get older, they’ll truly find their way. I don’t understand what the big deal is.”
Greathouse said that girls and boys should have their own bathrooms, and transgenders should have the freedom to use bathrooms which don’t distinguish as one or the other. She asked the committee to consider changing the policy regarding transgender students in the district.
“I ask you to really consider the policy we’re speaking about,” she said.
“I have heard talk about discriminating against 99 percent of the students,” said Alex Haynes of Foster, a 1999 Ponaganset graduate and a teacher. “That is the reason the RIDE policy exists, to protect the other one percent. The RIDE policy serves the kids that are trans. It does not take away anything from anybody else in the community. There is a lot of fear-mongering out there tonight. The bottom line is that this is a civil rights issue, and there are enough rights for everyone. What’s happening is that there are marginalized groups in our society and trans is, undoubtedly, one of the most marginalized groups.”
Haynes handed out a book explaining transgender issues and ways to address them to the committee.
“Transgender people are people,” he said. “Don’t just take someone’s word about what it’s like to be trans.”
The book, he said, will help explain what it is like to live in their world, which is our world.
“Respecting people costs you nothing,” Haynes said. “Usurping rights and protections for marginalized people is not America.”
Matthew DelSesto of Foster, a 1994 Ponaganset graduate and former Marine, noted that there were a number of policies in the past that were accepted at the time, such as, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” that were later removed.
“We all recognize now those policies were unfortunate, discriminatory and left a lot of people with second class citizenship among their families and their friends,” he said.
Last year, he said his son Russell, who identifies as a transgender female, graduated from Ponaganset.
“She was accepted by her peers and her teachers without question,” he said. “Today we are having this conversation. It is not about bathrooms or locker rooms. What we’re really having a conversation about is whether or not bullying is becoming mandated by the people around us. I hope that everybody in this room understands that in 30 years we will be embarrassed by this conversation. We are changing. We are becoming a more inclusive country and a more inclusive world. The people who don’t want to be part of that inclusion are getting smaller and angrier.”
Tiffany Medrano of Foster read a letter that her fifth grade daughter wrote regarding students’ rights and how to address them, particularly when it comes to bathrooms. As far as she was concerned, it was a perfect solution to the problem.
“These are her thoughts on the record,” said Medrano.
“Here are my ideas so that we can make it so anyone can use the bathroom no matter what gender they are,” the letter stated. “So, you have a big bathroom and the stalls are all their own private rooms so you can’t see under it or above it. It’s your own little section so that you just do what you got to do. Then you can leave the little stall, wash your hands and go back to class. I did have an experience with a bathroom like this and it was very nice. I think this bathroom design is a good way to have a shared space. So then if you have that you don’t have to worry about which bathroom you can use. Additionally, all the stalls would be handicap accessible so that everyone, and I mean everyone, can use it.”
School committee members refrained from any comments regarding the issue during the public comments.
Trans people are far far more likely to be raped by these angry “straight” people, than they are to rape kids.
Truth.
I am always suspicious of arguments that label a group of people as “Unsafe” or “Dangerous”. There was a time, in our not so distance past, when people argued that that the children should not use the same restrooms as African Americans because…. ““Some students may feel uncomfortable with a black student using the same restroom, locker room or changing facility.”