This past Monday, the Pascack Valley Board of Education passed Policy #5756, which allows students that are transgender to use the bathroom and locker rooms of the gender that they identify with.

This is a huge step for the rights of those in the LGBT+ community and civil rights for all people.  For most transgender teens, it is very tough for them to open up to their parents and they often feel most comfortable at school. The fact that the Board of Education passed this policy to help these students is the most important factor of the policy.

Students who are cisgender (a person identifying with their biological gender), often wonder, what about my rights in this policy? The writing “all men are created equal,” straight from our Declaration of Independence, has laid out, along with our Constitution, the certain unalienable rights that all people have. And all people means all people: white, black, cisgender, or transgender. Everyone has these unalienable rights because, simply put, we are all people.   

When first hearing of this policy, I did not know how to feel. I felt curious about the policy, why was it coming into place, now? Why has it sparked such a debate? I didn’t know how many transgender students there are in the school; I didn’t even know who these students are.

After attending the Board of Education meeting, I realized that the policy is not only historic, but it is the right thing to do.

Opponents of the policy have said that this is a mental disease, against their religious beliefs; their children will be uncomfortable with a student that has transitioned to the opposite gender changing in their locker rooms.

To those who say that being transgender is a mental disease, as said by someone who was against the policy at the Board meeting, these students would have to be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits public discrimination against people with disabilities in public accommodation. Public schools are considered places of public accommodation.

Opponents who have cited religion have read Bible verses and said that God does not make mistakes. In 1968, the United States Supreme Court ruled an Arkansas law that made it illegal to teach evolution and only teach the story of Divine Creation that is found in The Bible in public schools, as unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment right of Freedom of Expression. As a practicing Catholic, I have come to the realization that Jesus wants all people to be happy and He loves everyone. These Bible verses that were read at the meeting were also some the ones read by opponents to Civil Rights in the 1950s and 1960s. We need to learn from our history rather than simply repeat it.

Finally, opponents who feel students will be uncomfortable with transgender students changing in the locker rooms should know that no one gets naked while changing in the locker room. Plus, almost every student follows an unspoken rule in the locker room when changing for physical education or for sports: the pants/shirt that you were wearing for the school day come off, and then you put your gym article of clothing on right away. The same follows for the next piece of clothing that is left, shirt or pants. No student ever sees any genitalia in the locker rooms.

There is always a certain level of discomfort with anything new. When African Americans were first allowed to serve in the military, many white soldiers did not want to fight alongside of them, which led to the creation of black regiments in the United States military. Over time, the regiments were phased out and people of all skin colors were able to work together to protect this great nation we live in.

Let’s not forgot the law that brought this policy about. New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits discrimination based on a person’s gender identity or expression, among other things. The LAD specifically prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation (which includes public schools) and mandates that in public accommodations such as bathrooms or locker rooms that are separated by gender, a person must be able and allowed to use the facility consistent with their gender identity or expression.

Because of this law, the Board created a policy that would accommodate transgender students and follow this law.

Not even twenty-four hours after the policy was passed, I came to school the next morning with a smile on my face, proud of the community for a healthy debate and the fact that we are talking about something so revolutionary. Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills students should be proud of this new policy and the debate it has sparked because we are on the right side of history, of helping those in the LGBT+ community become the people they are and the people they aspire to be. Pascack Valley Board of Education Policy #5756 is history.