Bathroom Issue Tricky For Transgender Student In South Florida
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A South Florida student – transitioning from female to male – knows first-hand the bathroom issue can be tricky.
"I'm just there to do my business, get in and get out," said Domenic Doherty - a senior at Taravella High School in Coral Springs.
"I've been to the men's bathroom at my school. It makes me feel very uncomfortable because of the looks I get," said Doherty. "So I usually just don't go at all or I'll use the gender neutral bathrooms we have at our school".
Despite that, Domenic feels lucky that overall - life as a trans teen in South Florida has been pretty good.
"This school happens to be a very accepting school. Most kids, they don't look twice," said Doherty.
It's not like that everywhere. The feds passed down guidelines to schools regarding transgender rights - in part - telling schools transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms that are consistent with their gender identity.
Related: US Gives Directive To Schools On Transgender Bathroom Access
Broward School Superintendent Robert Runcie said the district is way ahead on this issue - working closely with transgender students and their parents to come up with workable plans.
Miami-Dade Public Schools issued a statement on the matter saying,
"Miami-Dade County Public Schools has a long-standing and robust antidiscrimination and harassment policy which leads with compliance with all Federal law and regulations of the U.S. Department of Education. Furthermore, our policy was revised five years ago to include gender identity. We have provided training to school personnel regarding the rights of all students to ensure that our schools continue to be safe havens of hope and opportunity while protecting the privacy rights of all of our students."
"We want all our students to know that they are protected valued and respected. We want them to feel safe in their school communities," said Runcie.
The issue resurfaced after North Carolina passed a law requiring transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex listed on their birth certificates.
"I think that women would probably wonder why I was in there," said Atticus Ranck who transitioned from a woman to man a couple of years ago. He said one positive from all this is people are talking about it.
"Trans people have been around forever and so we're finally recognizing that we exist and that we're here and I think that that is really good," said Atticus.
While South Florida schools say they are national leaders in LGBT issues, Broward Schools are working on more ways to meet the needs of transgender students. They should have updated guidelines by next month.
