A Michigan father didn't exactly get the response he was expecting when he asked one of his sons a simple question routinely posed by parents all over the country: How was school today?
"My son informed me there was a girl in the bathroom with him and the other kids in his class," Matt Stewart told WXYZ-TV in Detroit.
And now he has yanked his three boys out of Southwest Elementary School in Howell, Michigan, over the district's decision to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Stewart said his son told him the girl was told "to look at the wall" while boys were told to stand closer to the urinals, reported the Detroit Free Press.
“As parents, we decided we were not going to force our children to make the decision between confusion, humiliation, and embarrassment,” Stewart told the TV station.
Stewart called the school and asked why parents were not informed or consulted about the new policy. He also wanted to know how the privacy rights of his son were being protected, noting there was nothing to prevent the girl from walking out of a stall and seeing a male classmate urinating.
Not satisfied with the answers he got from school officials, Stewart removed his children from the public school and says he plans to keep them out until the board comes up with an acceptable alternative.
“My child is now facing the humiliation of choosing to either risk exposing himself to a student of the opposite sex or going to a separate facility. I think there needs to be a solution where every child is comfortable,” said Stewart.
A letter sent home to parents and cited by the ABC affiliate noted that transgender bathroom use was “a new and rapidly developing area of law.”
The letter reads:
"As has been widely reported, on May 13, 2016, the United States Department of Justice and Department of Education issued significant guidance on the rights of transgender students. This involved the Department’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which is a statute prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs or activities. Those Departments found that Title IX prohibits discrimination against students based on their transgender status.
With respect to restrooms, the government stated that transgender students must be allowed to access those facilities “consistent with their gender identity.” Any student who desires additional privacy in light of this directive may, however, make use of individual-user restrooms.
This is a new and rapidly developing area of law. Howell Public Schools intends to comply with its legal obligations in this, as well as all other, respects. Measures will, therefore, be implemented consistent with this guidance in a way which ensures the safety, privacy, and dignity of all involved.”
Dr. Carnigee Truesdale-Howard, a pediatric psychologist at Beaumont Children’s Hospital, defended the school's actions to the TV station and said parents should put aside their "fears and anxieties and educate themselves."
“How would you want the school to treat your child if your child was transgender?” she asked.
Thirteen states are challenging the U.S. Department of Education guidelines that allow transgender students to use facilities of their choosing, accusing the Obama administration of “running roughshod over commonsense policies” that protect children, as reported by WND.
The states are: Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.