Local News |

Transgender controversy dominates high school board election

In the school board election for a Palatine district four years ago, the term “transgender” was not remotely on the candidates’ radar. This year, in the campaign for District 211 board in Tuesday’s election, transgender access has overshadowed all other issues.

In the intervening years, federal officials pressured Township High School District 211 to agree to let a transgender student use the girls’ locker room, sparking a backlash that’s prompted a group of candidates to run for the board who promise to roll back such access.

Now, board members who were once accused of discriminating against transgender students have become the target of outrage by some parents who don’t think bathroom and locker room access should be based on gender identity.

So while taxes, facilities and quality of education have traditionally been core issues for the northwest suburban district, transgender access has become the new flashpoint.

“It basically overtakes the whole concept of being a school board member,” said candidate Ed Yung, a former board member who said he supports the current access agreement. “It kind of ignores the fact that there’s a lot more to being on a school board than a handful of transgender students.”

Critics from both sides say the issue runs deeper. Transgender advocates argue that inclusion is crucial to vulnerable students’ sense of belonging. Opponents counter that the issue affects all students who must share a locker room with someone who may be biologically of the opposite sex.

The controversy arose from the case of an anonymous student who filed a federal complaint seeking access to the school locker room. The district had previously granted the student, known as Student A, access to the girls’ restrooms and an athletic team.

Under former President Obama, the U.S. Department of Education ruled that District 211 was in violation of Title IX legal protections against sex discrimination — the first time federal officials had reached such a conclusion against any school district.

School officials had previously offered Student A a separate changing facility. But after federal officials threatened to withhold millions of dollars in funding, the board agreed to let the student use the girls’ locker room, with the understanding she would use a private changing station to which other students also have access.

That agreement in turn led to criticism from parents and a local church at board meetings, as well as a lawsuit against the district. Eventually, a slate of three school board candidates emerged — newcomers Ralph Bonatz, Katherine David and Jean Forrest — calling themselves Parents With Purpose.

Along with other issues, such as opposing tax increases and calling for better community representation, the group has pledged to “usher in change” by providing “reasonable accommodations” but ending locker room and restroom access for students of the opposite biological sex. Their campaign has even drawn financial support from well-known donor Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest, who has donated millions to conservative candidates and causes.

But the student at the forefront of the case says transgender access to bathrooms and locker rooms is a nonissue for her fellow students. She said she’s used the privacy stalls in the locker room without hassle, as many other students have.

“Honestly, (students) are sick of this issue. They think it’s quite ridiculous,” said the student, who asked not to be named.

She worries that, depending on the outcome of the election, “other students could have to go through what I went through (before the agreement) or even worse.”

More than 50 families calling themselves Parents for Privacy are taking part in a federal lawsuit against the district, with support from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group. Backers say the transgender policy violates other students’ right to privacy.

Vicki Wilson, who co-founded the parents’ group, said students who’ve been victims of sexual abuse may feel emotionally traumatized by having someone of the opposite biological sex in their locker room.

“Parents have a reasonable expectation to know that there is a policy that these private areas are designated by biological sex,” she said. “There is a path forward where all students are protected and respected. … I’d say, let’s get you an accommodation, but not in the girls’ locker room.”

Incumbent Anna Klimkowicz, who has been a board member since 1997, said the policy has worked out well, with no violations or bullying that she knows of. She said future cases should be decided on an individual basis. Incumbent Robert LeFevre Jr., who also voted in favor of the agreement agreed each case must be examined individually.

“It has to be reviewed, but right now restricted access is working,” Klimkowicz said.

The district installed changing stations at all five of its high schools, though the agreement with Student A ends in June, after she graduates.

But other students are also asking for access in the district. Two students have intervened in the federal lawsuit to try to stop any rollback of the access provided to Student A, said John Knight, LGBT project director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which represents Student A. Another student, who attends a different school, is also fighting for girls’ locker room access, which Knight said has so far been denied.

If the school board challengers win, they likely will have enough votes on the board to change the district policy going forward and could affect access for these students, Knight said.

Ed Yohnka, spokesman with the ACLU of Illinois, which represented the transgender student, said while the organization doesn’t get involved in elections, it’s keeping a close eye on the race.

“We’re very much concerned,” he said. “If these policies get reversed, I can tell you who is going to be harmed: Our clients.”

In other districts across the region and the country, transgender students are accommodated without going through the courts, he said. Even in controversial cases where other community members raise objections, policies are worked out after a few school board meetings, Yohnka said.

“In other school districts … most of that anger and angst really did dissipate. Instead, in this case, we’re 21/2 years into this and it shows no sign of letting up,” he said. “They’ve decided to make a school board race out of it. It seems out of proportion and out of bounds of what we’ve seen happen in other places.”

Student A says she wishes her battle to be treated like a “normal girl” hadn’t unfolded this way.

Other students, she said, tell her she’s changed policies and minds.

“But that doesn’t mean I deserved this in the first place,” she said.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

kthayer@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertMcCoppin

Twitter @knthayer