Community support is vital when it comes to protecting trans students across Rhode Island, and just a few weeks ago, we saw this in Westerly.
On the evening of Wednesday, August 19th, the Westerly School Committee had a meeting, and once again, matters related to trans students were on the agenda. More specifically, the agenda item was written as follows: 12d. Request of Counsel to seek written opinion from R. I. Attorney General’s Office regarding SCOTUS Decision as to trans gender athletes.
In other words, the school committee was going vote on whether or not they should request that their legal counsel obtain an opinion from the Rhode Island Attorney General that explains the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on transgender athletes from the West Virginia v. B.P.J. case.
The decision made by SCOTUS ultimately determined that it is legal to separate sports teams on the basis of sex, and that schools are allowed to ban trans athletes from competing on the team that does not align with the sex assigned to them at birth. For example, if a trans girl wants to compete on the girls' team, but her school separates sports teams on the basis of sex, her only options would be to play on the boys' team, or to not play at all.
To be clear, this decision does NOT require schools to implement policies banning trans athletes from competing on the team that aligns with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Because this was on the Westerly School Committee's agenda, it was crucial that as many of us as possible attend this meeting to support and advocate for Westerly's current and future trans students, just like we did in Cumberland. Like we always say, there is power in numbers, and school committees always need to know that we all stand with trans students.
Dozens of community members took the time to physically show up to support trans students, and many of them publicly gave testimony describing why it’s so important that trans students be protected and treated with the same respect as their cis-gender peers. Ultimately, the school committee voted against seeking an opinion from the AG’s office, as the majority of committee members understood that their current trans student policy is in compliance with the law.
Fortunately, this school committee meeting ended up being a success, and although there weren't any plans to make changes to their trans student policy that night, the turnout served as a reminder to the school committee that the Westerly community stands with trans students. This is why it is critical to show up any time trans students are referenced on a school committee meeting’s agenda, no matter what the item is. We must make it clear that we are always paying attention and are prepared to make noise.