Calif. districts grapple with transgender law
By Alejandro Lazo, Wall Street Journal
SACRAMENTO — School districts in California are grappling with a newly enacted, first-of-its-kind law that spells out rights for those students who don’t identify as being the gender of their birth.
California law AB1266, the first such statewide legislation in the country, grants students who identify themselves as transgender the right to choose the sports teams and extracurricular activities—as well as the bathrooms and locker rooms—that correspond to their gender identities. Backers of the measure say transgender children have been subject to bullying in such settings and have thus taken to avoiding using the restroom or participating in athletics.
There are no firm estimates of how many such students might attend California schools, and no specific guidelines for determining if a youngster should be considered transgender.