Collins

Danielle M. Collins
Professor Martinique Hallerduff
LIBS 201
November 22, 2015
The Oppression of transgender Students
The LGBT community is fairly new to society. The different terms that the
LGBT fall under are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. This group or community
has dealt with much oppression and the group is fairly new to society. There have been
many activists to stand up and fight for the rights of the people that fall under this
category. Unfortunately, even with the many things that this group has been able to
accomplish in the last 30 years there are still a lot that still needs to be done. Transgender
students are dealing with oppression within the schools because they know where they
belong but society doesnt know how to embrace where they feel they belong.
Oppression is what transgender kids have to deal with when going through school
or within the social construct that we live in. They are not treated fairly and they end up
having a lot of issues growing up because they cant be their true selves. Marion Young
wrote about what oppression looked like and what that could mean. The five categories
that she has said were examples of oppression were exploitation, marginalization,
powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Young states, In this extended
structural sense oppression refers to the vast and deep injustices some groups suffer as a
consequence of often unconscious assumptions and reactions of well-meaning people in
ordinary interactions, media and cultural stereotypes, and structural features of
bureaucratic hierarchies and market mechanics. (Young 41) Anyone who is transgender

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or who wants to start the process of transgender can face all five of these things. It can be
extremely damaging and cause lots of issues like suicide, be the target of bullies,
withdrawal or even hurt themselves to deal with the way they are being treated.
In the journal of homosexuality there is an article called, The Big Freak Out:
Educator Fear in Response to the Presence of Transgender Elementary School Students,
talks about how when talking about anyone that is in the LGBTQ community that they
are high risk of suicide, depression and even sexual transmitted diseases. (Payne, Smith;
400) Consequently, when speaking on this subject in school it already puts a negative
thought to it because of these negative associations that schools are putting into peoples
heads. The most interesting part is the reason that people are not allowed to be who they
are is because people are afraid. Our culture pushes that everyone is to be heterosexual.
In the same article one of the most intriguing aspects were how, identities are
particularly taboo in this environment where the hyper-sexualization of gay and lesbian
sexualities clashes strongly with [the] widespread myth in primary schools of the asexual
and naive child (Payne, Smith; 400) This subject tends to be very taboo and people tend
to get awkward and dont want to talk about it. Then when someone who is transgender
comes along no one really wants to deal with it because it makes people uncomfortable
including the teachers and staff. Which is a shame because schools could be using this as
teaching material to explain differences and not make them as weird as people make it
out to be. Another reason that was brought up in this article was the fact that there was a
lack of education on how to handle these different situations that they are not used to.
They were never taught how to handle this situation, which caused fear and anxiety for
teachers to talk about it or be there for a student who may be transgender.

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So the real situation is then how do we go about teaching teachers a curriculum on

how to handle students who may be different. It isnt a race thing; it is talking about
someones sexual identity and that can make anyone feel anxious about bringing up this
subject. In the schools there needs to be someone who holds a higher office to make sure
these students are being treated fairly. An option that could happen is to make sure there
are teacher institute days to learn how to be professional and talk about it, also
incorporate that into health class so that the students learn to respect someone who may
be different than they are. I think that if more people would make a point to come up with
solutions that obeys laws and helps bridge the gap between these students there would be
a stronger school body.
At Palatine High school there is a story currently going on about how a
transgender student was not allowed to go into the locker room that she identified with
because she was transgender. The school board said that she would need to use a private
bathroom to change and that she would not be allowed to be with her peers. This was and
is type of discrimination and oppression that needed to be dealt with. The school is at risk
of losing money from the federal government because of the unfairness they are showing.
They allow her to use the girls bathroom and can even play on the girls sports teams but
the school stopped it when it came to her using the locker room. They attempted to have
her be in the locker room but in an area that was private away from the other girls but this
was not good enough for federal officials. This was still an issue with discriminating. She
was not given the same equal treatment and she felt an ongoing, sense of isolation and
ostracism. (Eldeib) At the end of the article she was very happy with the federal ruling
because it made her feel as though she did nothing wrong. At the end she states, The

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district's policy stigmatized me, often making me feel like I was not a 'normal person.
(Eldeib) This is a major story because this represents all of the transgender students and
letting everyone of them that there is nothing wrong with them and they deserve equal
opportunities and this includes using the same facilities as anyone else.
In Five Faces of Oppression we can use these types of oppression and reflect on
this story that she had to face everyday. The different types of oppression that was
reflected just within this small story were exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness,
and cultural imperialism. She was being exploited by being treated unfairly where she felt
ostracized from the rest of her peers because she was transgender. The treatment she was
getting was unfair and violated federal law. This school was marginalizing her, since she
was being blocked to full access of what her peers were able to have. She had to go to
separate areas, which was alienation, of the school for her to change to join her classroom
in gym class. She had a sense of powerlessness because she didnt know how to stand up
for herself at first and did what the school district told her she was supposed to do. She
said that it was embarrassing because there were times the teacher told the other students
to not get in uniform and then she would show up in uniform. She experienced cultural
imperialism because she was being treated unfairly between her and the whole student
body. The students were able to have equal opportunities. An example of a simple equal
opportunity that they got that she did not was having access to locker rooms. She was
forced to do something different because she was labeled transgender. The whole school
was a like a civilization inside of school and she was the one who was being treated
unfairly. She was not part of the civilization when it came to using the locker rooms.
Young said in her book, Those living under cultural imperialism find themselves defined

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from the outside, positioned, placed, by a network of dominant meanings they experience
as arising from elsewhere, from those with whom they do not identify and who do not
identify with them. (Young 59)
In looking deeper into transgender youth in the schools I wanted to be able to
figure out what it was that made people have such an issue when it came to these youth.
There was a story from a county in Virginia. They want to change the curriculums to
welcome the ideas of gender identity and to make it have fluidity and to teach the
spectrum of genders. They want to make it become socially acceptable at least within
their community. This is an excellent curriculum to put into play but the thing is parents
are not happy about the decision. Students will be taught,
Definitions for sexual orientation terms heterosexuality, homosexuality and
bisexuality; and the gender identity term transgender. Emphasis will be placed on
recognizing that everyone is experiencing changes and the role of respectful,
inclusive language in promoting an environment free of bias and discrimination.
(Starnes)
The parents were angry at the vote to put this curriculum into their school systems and to
push the nondiscrimination policy. The parents dont agree with making transgender a
normal thing. There was also talk about changing policy to let transgender use the
bathroom they identify with. Parents will be able to opt their child out of the lesson when
they speak on sexual orientation and gender identity lesson. President of Traditional
Values Coalition Andre Lafferty said, Parents need to protect their kids from this assault,
who could imagine that we are in this place today but we are. (Starnes) I think that
many people put their values before everyone elses because they feel that their core

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values are the only way of thinking. They dont leave room for others to have a different
opinion or beliefs. Everyone does it and it is to a fault and doesnt protect the kids who
do have different identities than what they are born with.
What is the cause of transgender not being socially acceptable when it comes to
school settings? Is it the parents, the school district, the other students or society in itself?
I think there is evidence that it is partially the school boards but also more the pressure of
the parents that are putting on the school board. Leads me to believe that people have
issues with it because it goes against their religion and everything they have been taught.
There was an article written in an education newspaper written by Craig Austin.
In the article he made a point to give ways to help with children in the schools to be able
to have an easier time. There was a call for action for the teachers to help eliminate or
drastically bring down the oppression that these children face. He listed a few that were
very interesting but some of them I think not only could be used in the school but within
our society. Kids in the phase of identifying with what they are or who they are is a very
important step in life. Unfortunately when they are being pushed down and made fun of
they can go through many bad things like depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and even
suicide. He gave many strategies that could be helpful for schools to use so that their kids
dont have to go through all the bad but would feel loved and welcomed. Some of the
things that he says are,
Allowing students to use their preferred name and updating school records with
this as well. Allow the student to use the toilet that matches their gender identity.
Allow the student to wear the uniform that matches their identified gender. Being

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mindful of the potential problems, such as victimization, and come up with a plan
to manage these problems. (Austin 7)
All of these suggestions could have been used in the case at the palatine high school.
They did use some of these but the student feels as though this is an issue and feels
excluded from her peers when she has to go change in a separate bathroom. She just
wants things to be fair just like it is fair for all the other kids.
We can all learn from this. We can all open our minds to the idea that people are
different and no one is the same. Each experience that a person faces is different from the
person next to us. More people need to be open-minded and realize that everyone has
their own story to tell. Someone who is transgender is just another person with his or her
story. When our culture learns to accept everyone including people in the transgender
community then our world will become a happier place. There wont be the hate judgment
that so many do now.

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Works Cited
Austin, Craig. "Support Transgender Students." Education: 7. Oct 28 2013. ProQuest.
Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Eldeib, Duaa. "Feds:Palatine districtdiscriminated against transgender student by barring
her from girls locker room." Chicago Tribune 3 November 2015.
Payne, Elizabethe, and Melissa Smith. "The Big Freak Out: Educator Fear In Response
To The Presence Of Transgender Elementary School Students." Journal Of
Homosexuality 61.3 (2014): 399-418. LGBT Life with Full Text. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
(Starnes)
Starnes, Todd. "Parents furious over school's plans to teach gender spectrum, fluidity ."
Fox News 15 May 2015.
Young, Iris Marion. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press,
2011.