What is going on with this “misgendering and deadnaming” clause in the SR&R?
On bullying:
Preventing bullying of more vulnerable, less numerous groups is essential for everyone. If bullying of less powerful and privileged groups is allowed, the culture of bullying spreads, and the next group becomes scapegoated. When bullying becomes more widespread, it becomes more difficult to stop for all vulnerable students.
The media reports about “misgendering and deadnaming,” suspension, expulsion, etc., are all really, really off-base and inaccurate.
- It’s last year’s news. These terms were added for this past school year. They have been in effect for all of the 2021-22 school year. One has to wonder why there is such an inaccurate focus in related media.
Last year, it wasn’t mostly LGBTQ-focused either. Those changes just spelled out the meaning of “bullying” to include slurs based on race, disability, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, gender, weight, etc. Whether one agrees with those or not, they are not new. All the categories are included in FCPS non-discrimination policy and Virginia Law.
The protection for LGBTQ people (among all the others) in FCPS is 20 years old, having been added in 2001. Has there been a news story about abuse or misuse of this? No.
- But, there are some very specific changes related to all bullying; LGBTQ people are just part of that.
- They do NOT add any possible penalties to students of any age. There has been a “Level 1” intervention available to K-6 students for a while. Level 1 includes talking to admin and teachers, or detention. This was available as an extra step before the ordinary Levels 2-4 kicked in. Most items do NOT have a Level 1. They were put in for K-6. It seems that it was decided that severe bullying in grades 4-6 is serious enough that the extra step of just talking was not enough.
Note–NO new penalties have been added. The most serious option for all bullying,, suspension, has always been there as an ultimate intervention after all others have failed. Certainly that can be lobbied against, but really isn’t about transgender students.
- So why is the media focus so off-base and inaccurate? Perhaps in part a lack of checking by sending an email to central office staff; or an intent to be inflammatory about transgender children, even if the facts show that this is not really a story with that focus.
Preventing bullying of LGBTQ students, staff and parents/guardians
For the past twenty-one years (since 2001), FCPS has included LGBTQ students, staff, visitors and parents/guardians in its anti-bullying policies.
Last year, in summer 2021, provisions were added to protect LGBTQ students, staff, parents/guardians and visitors from particular types of bullying aimed at them: “deliberate outing” and “malicious misgendering.
What is misgendering? Here is FCPS’s definition:
The act of labeling others with a gender that does not match their gender identity.
What is deadnaming? FCPS says deadnaming is “when someone refers to a person who is transgender or gender-expansive by a name other than their own chosen name.”
Note, these specific provisions have been in effect all of the 2021-22 school year. The policy in general has been in effect for twenty-one years. No parent has complained of their child being improperly disciplined. No one has complained of their speech being limited in actual fact. It is all theoretical.
These are anti-bullying policies. They are not about compelled speech or behaviors. No student has to say something they do not want to.
So what is prevented by “malicious misgendering?” It means that students may not harass or bully someone by continually, deliberately, in a harassing way, call them words that apply to a gender that is not theirs.
For example, a boy named Bobby could not be repeatedly, deliberately, in a bullying way be called Sally. A girl could not repeatedly and maliciously be called a boy, if the purpose is to bully or intimidate that person. Mr. Gomez can not repeatedly be called Mrs. Gomez in order to disrespect or bully him.
If someone doesn’t want to call someone by their pronouns, they can not use pronouns. Can they ironically, repeatedly, make a big show of not using someone’s pronouns in class in order to harass or bully that person? No, of course not. Bullying is not OK in school.
What if someone makes a mistake? Will that be punished? No. As always, if someone makes a mistake, they say they are sorry and move on.
Is there case law on this? There are no court rulings that support a right to bully. There are no court cases about students misgendering. There is an appeal in Vlaming v West Point about whether a teacher has a right to address students by names and pronouns other than the gender their parents have requested for the school to use. In the Vlaming case, the parents had alerted the school to the child’s name and pronouns; Peter Vlaming told the parents that he did not agree with and would not honor their request. After many meetings and conversations, he specifically told his supervisors, then the school board, that he refused to respect this parent request or follow school policy. He was fired, as anyone in any job would be.
Does the “Tanner” Cross decision in the Supreme Court of Virginia apply? No. That was about public speech in a school board meeting about misgendering, that involved no actual interactions with students in school. It is not about student speech in school directely to another student.
