District Adds ‘Gender Identity’ To List Of Reasons Students Can File Discrimination Complaints
The Boise school district has updated policy to allow students to file a grievance if they are not referred to by their preferred pronouns.
Preferred pronouns and bathroom preferences are about to become an even bigger issue in one school district. Despite parents’ concerns over the safety of female students, and the harmful long-term effects of affirming gender theory over biological facts, the Boise, Idaho school district has updated its grievance policy to protect “gender identity.” This will likely have massive repercussions for both LGBTQ activists, and the families who wish for students to focus on their lessons in a safe environment.
Despite various concerns, the Boise School District has assured families that this update will not change the bathroom policy, which already allows students to use the restroom of their choice based on gender identity. It has further stated that the policy hasn’t changed all that much with the new updates, but parents beg to differ. As trans activists and inclusion groups claim that transgender-inclusive policies don’t put other students at risk, these assertions overlook the case of a Loudoun county male teenager who was convicted of raping a female student in the restroom when allowed into the girls’ room, or the fact that another student was allegedly sexually assaulted in an LA school bathroom by a group of male students who filmed the incident and posted it to social media.
While many gender inclusion policies are well-intentioned, the Boise School Districts’ choice to place identity politics over the safety of biological females is a legal liability. In addition, the war over forcing students and teachers to adhere to LGBTQ+ student’s pronoun preferences is currently raging on, but legal outcomes are not supporting these new policies. Back in May, the Kiel Middle School attempted to sue a group of middle school boys for not calling a female student by her preferred pronoun of “they.” The school was later forced to drop the suit after receiving massive pushback from the media and families opposed to the school’s attempt to force students to censor themselves.
Earlier this year, a college professor won his lawsuit against Shawnee State University after the institute of learning punished him for not referring to a student by their preferred pronouns. The educator won $400,000 in damages on the grounds that his religious rights had been violated. As a Christian, the professor argued that he believes that there are two biological genders and the school violated his religious freedom by attempting to force him to go against those beliefs. This case is highly relevant in regards to school guidelines like the Boise School District’s new grievance policy.
While some argue that the changes are merely updating an outdated policy for the times, The Boise Parents Association questioned the validity of such updates at the school’s June board meeting. The vague terms of the grievance policy concern families who wish to support free speech rights and the rights of religious students who only recognize that there are two biological genders. The group’s founder argued that without “readily accessible rules or guidelines regarding gender identity” Boise school district teachers and students may face punishments for not using correct preferred pronouns without intending to harass or harm others.
While educational concerns like those of the new Boise School District grievance guidelines further divide communities, public schools are facing record enrollment drops, teacher shortages, and low test scores. Many parents and teachers are questioning the validity of focusing on identity politics over curriculum content and student success rates at a time when the education system is experiencing more issues than ever. Despite this, school boards, teachers’ unions, and the Department of Education continue to veer schools away from core class learning toward identity-based lessons which have yet to produce positive results.
