NARRATOR: There's
a new battleground
in this gender revolution--
bathrooms.
And nowhere is that battle more
heated than in public schools.
Now, even the Supreme Court
is set to weigh in on the case
of Gavin Grimm, a transgender
student in Virginia,
who's fighting for the right
to use the bathroom that
corresponds to the
gender he identifies as,
not the gender he was
assigned at birth.
I'm not looking for
separate but equal,
I'm looking for the
same opportunities
that my peers enjoy
every single day.
And that includes using the same
restroom as any other student.
NARRATOR: But one school
in South Central LA
is already forging ahead.
The Santee Education
Complex High School.
In 2016 it opened
what's considered
the nation's first gender
neutral, multi-stall restroom.
A cause for
celebration for some,
a lightning rod for others.
Santee is part of the LA
Unified School District,
which represents
nearly 1,100 schools
and more than 640,000 students.
It's a district that's been on
the front lines of this issue
for years.
The LA Unified School District
has had transgender-affirming
policies since 2005.
NARRATOR: That was
more than a decade
before President Obama told
schools across the country
to open their bathrooms
to transgender students
or face losing federal funds.
The policy that we
wrote 10 years ago
was inspired by a family with
a transgender first grader.
The policy is actually pretty
simple, that our transgender
students can access
all facilities based on
their affirmed gender identity.
In LA Unified a student
who is transgender
can change their name, their
pronoun, and access facilities.
NARRATOR: It's a whole
new world for educators.
So LA Unified trains
them in everything,
from roll call in homeroom,
diplomas at graduation,
and, yes, the question of
who can use which bathroom.
So we're going to
do a little test.
There's going to be
some slides that come up
and I just want you
to call out the people
in the slide, what is
the bathroom that you
would probably direct them to.
So if a student named John
comes back from spring vacation
and says my name is April
and I would like you to refer
to me by she and her, we
sit down with this student,
usually a counselor
will talk to them
and ask them what's
going on, how long have
you been feeling like this.
We make a plan
with that student.
What is it that you need?
Do you want to change how you're
known at school completely?
Do you want us to change
the name on the roster?
Which are things that
we're capable of doing.
When a student is transitioning
and they meet with their school
and they talk about
their identity
as something that is
affirmed, is deeply rooted,
it is consistent,
it is persistent.
You can't be transgender just
for fifth period PE to have
access to the locker room.
We would not allow that
because it needs to be genuine.
And if the administrator
has a reasonable suspicion
that the request
is not legitimate,
they do not have to honor it.
The situation of a
student, a male student--
interestingly we only seem to
worry about our male students--
but a male student
pretended to be transgender
so he can, for
predatory reasons,
have access to a
female facility.
I think that's
rather ridiculous.
I've heard all kinds
of fears expressed
just through the media.
None of those fears
have ever been realized.
Ever.
We have never had the
type of fearful misconduct
that people talk about with
our transgender students.
That has never happened.
Last year I got 17 phone
calls in three days,
from elementary
schools, mind you,
that had transgender
students whose
parents wanted them
to be able to attend
schools authentically.
There are so many more students
who are coming out now,
just because of the
national conversation.
When we talk to families
we can tell them,
we will be one of the
most affirming school
districts in the country.
It's a promise that I am
fortunate to be able to make
on behalf of all of us.
I do believe that, as a
country, we need to make space
for people who have more
fluidity around their gender
or people who are transgender.
Kind of break that rigidity.
So I believe that, as a school
district and as a community
and as people who care about
others, that the more that we
can do to help people
be more of who they are,
the more they're going
to be able to be engaged
in their education,
follow their dreams,
and be more of who they are.
Our goal is to help people be
more of who they are, not less.
