“This is a genocide against trans people”: dozens of community members urge the school board to “affirm” LGBTQ students

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Twenty-nine members of the public showed up at the August 1 Alachua County School Board meeting to speak about the perception that the school district will interpret new state laws in the most restrictive manner, prohibiting teachers and administrators from using students’ preferred names and pronouns.

Alachua County Education Association President Carmen Ward was the first to bring up the topic during an agenda item set aside for union updates. Ward said, “I come before you tonight to urge you to guide district staff to have an interpretation of laws that impact LGBTQ+ educators and students… that will respect every family and protect every child.” She said district employees need “clarity” on how to deal with situations and stay within the law “but in a way that we are never, never harming children… I absolutely think that we can do that, we can be respectful of parents and the wishes of parents, and we can find a way to cause the least amount of harm in following the law.”

“Using preferred pronouns is respecting another human being’s request”

During the first Citizen Input period, Paula Pifer showed a magazine photo of her “daughter, model Hunter Pifer… She was born with the gender marker male, and at the age of 15, she told me she needed to go on hormone blockers. She was able to receive the life-saving medical care she needed as a minor and fully transitioned by the age of 18… The new law, HB 1557… does not ban the use of pronouns, and I encourage teachers to continue to respect our LGBTQ youth: using preferred pronouns is respecting another human being’s request.”

“Your job is to limit the damage these laws are creating, not expand upon them”

Joe Smith, lead pastor of Shift Church, said he had met with Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club sponsors in the district, and they told him that students are “scared to even have their names associated with our GSAs… At some point in time, someone with authority is going to have to make a stand and say no more, regardless of consequences. We are calling on you, our school board, to make that stand, to be on the right side of history. Your job is to limit the damage these laws are creating, not expand upon them.”

“I urge you to dissent against these unconstitutional laws”

Amanda Goldsmith, who said she is a member of the LGBTQ community and has two children that identify as LGBTQ in public schools, said, “By removing freedom of speech and freedom of assembly within the schools and not allowing our teachers and children to live their lives to the fullest in pursuit of their own happiness, you are complicit in violating their civil and human rights. In addition, aligning with deeply troubled people who think that our very existence should be silenced, banned, or eradicated. I urge you to dissent against these unconstitutional laws.”

“I’m also a parent, and I also have rights”

Dr. Kristen Stoner said she is the “proud parent of two fantastic trans teenagers… I understand that parents want to have the right to control what their kids experience in school. I’m also a parent, and I also have rights. And I would like to control what my child experiences in school as well. I do not want them to experience transphobia coming from teachers, administrators, or other students. I do not want them to be dead-named or misgendered in front of their peers. I do not want them to experience the pain, dysphoria, frustration, and sadness that comes from being forcefully outed by their teachers as a result of the state’s new legislation. I fail to see how these parents’ rights and their children’s rights should have any bearing on how my child is referred to at school and how they are respected or not by their school system.” 

“Use wiggle room, loopholes, exploit inconsistencies within the law”

Jennifer Sen urged the board to “take the broadest possible interpretation of the law. Use wiggle room, loopholes, exploit inconsistencies within the law.” She suggested that every school convert at least one of the large girls’ or boys’ restrooms into a unisex bathroom. She also urged the board to “support your teachers and your school staff… Do not let them be bullied by parents.”

“And sure, we have to follow the law, but we don’t have to bend over backwards”

Dr. Michael Haller, a local pediatric endocrinologist, begged the board “to interpret the laws in a way that protects our kids. It’s not a hard ask. The law was written to be discriminatory. And sure, we have to follow the law, but we don’t have to bend over backwards… As many others have said, the law does not require that teachers not use students’ preferred pronouns… The law in fact requires that we have bathrooms available that are unisex in each public institution.”

“Alachua County needs to do everything within the law, in their power, to provide affirming environments for students”

Crystal Sorrow, who said she has been an educator in Alachua County for 24 years, said, “There is nothing in Florida law that prevents LGBTQ+ teachers from being able to speak about their families, as any other teacher would. And yet the fear is there–that fear for themselves, their careers, their families, but also fear for their students… Alachua County needs to do everything within the law, in their power, to provide affirming environments for students.”

The early general public comment period is typically limited to 30 minutes, with any remaining comments being heard at the end of the meeting. After about 34 minutes, Chair Tina Certain asked the board if they would mind hearing the remaining speakers that had signed up, and they nodded.

“We do not need cowardice in our school board”

Oliver Flanagan, a 15-year-old student, said, “Whatever interpretation of these laws takes place, no board member here will have to live with it. Me and my peers will be the ones who have to handle that… In 2021, we were pretty, like, famed for fighting back against anti-masking, right? We went and we challenged to the state, we got support from the White House themselves. We need this board to have the strength and the courage to stand up for their transgender students… I do not want to have to live afraid. I know there is work in finding those loopholes and rewriting because we do need that [LGBTQ Guide] back… We do not need cowardice in our school board.”

“What is the harm in affirming these children?”

Debbie Lewis said, “Please do not overreach, do not expand on laws that are already hateful and harmful. What is the harm in affirming these children? What does it hurt? If you all aren’t in this to protect and support and nurture children, then why are you here?”

“Parents with gay kids… have no rights”

During the Citizen Input period at the end of the meeting, Sarah Livingstone said, “I believe that it’s about particular rights or particular parents, because not every parent has rights… What about the fundamental right of the parents [of gay students] to make decisions about the upbringing and control and critical, critical decisions for their kid? Only some parents get to do that. Parents with gay kids can’t. They have no rights.”

Certain responded to Livingstone, “I don’t mean to look at you blankly and not respond, but we’re not able to. So it’s not that I don’t agree with you. I just can’t dialogue with you.”

“The focus is on these agendas instead of education”

Kenya Ellis said, “I’m all for protecting all children, and I’m for inclusion. But school is for teaching and educating, not pushing personal agendas, no special bathrooms… Just as you don’t want others to dictate to your child or children who they’re exposed to or how they are treated, I don’t want my grandkids or other children exploited or exposed by others’ personal decisions. Call the children by the names on the birth certificate. If you want the names changed, change it. You are confusing the children. We are already one of the lowest-performing counties in Florida… Teachers are more concerned about being able to live their so-called truths.” She said too few students are graduating from high school, “but the focus is on these agendas instead of education.”

“A student who doesn’t know that they are asexual will end up in dangerous situations”

Shelley Maclean said she is a teacher in Alachua County and “in the queer community. And I just want to point out that asexuality and aromanticism are often invisible identities. They’re not as controversial as some of the other identities that are out there. But I think that it’s really important for students to know about them. And this is a conversation that I’ve had pre-don’t-say-gay law… When a student is asexual, it’s very difficult to feel whether they’re asexual… And what happens is people say, oh, you’re just a late bloomer. Oh, you just haven’t met the right person yet. And a student who doesn’t know that identity will start trying, and they will put themselves in dangerous situations… So I just want to be out there to, like, raise awareness of that identity, which is less controversial than some of the other identities because often people are fine with like, oh, that’s just chastity. But a student who doesn’t know that they are asexual will end up in dangerous situations, will do things just to fit in, and that will affect them for their lifetimes.”

“One child that dies because of these laws, it’s unconscionable”

Anne Koterba spoke about a 14-year-old boy she knew who had committed suicide, “and I feel like one child that dies because of these laws, it’s unconscionable. And so anyhow, I’m going to be more pragmatic now, in that you all need to be brave, but you also, being in Alachua County, will have targets on your back. And you have to thread the needle, you know, and that’s going to be hard.” She added that the board would need good legal advice and had not had a staff attorney since January.

“You have a board that’s very supportive of all students here in Alachua County”

During board member comment, Member Diyonne McGraw said, “We heard you, we hear you. You have a board that’s very supportive of all students here in Alachua County.” She agreed that the board will need good legal advice. 

“The parents of trans and non-binary students have just as much right to direct their child’s education as every other parent”

Member Sarah Rockwell thanked the citizens who had spoken about the “legislation surrounding LGBTQ students and what our district is doing about that.” She said the training that citizens had referred to was not directed by the school board and added, “Up to this point, our LGBTQ guidance has consisted of an internal procedural document that’s been developed by Dr. Edwards and her team in conjunction with our Inclusive Schools Committee from the community. Many of you are here tonight. And we’ve had two iterations of that in response to changing legislation… I am requesting that we have a third iteration of that because we do not need training that is hearsay from one meeting with administrators that they then pass down to department heads, that they then pass down to teachers, that they then tell the paraprofessionals. We need guidance. People need clarity. Lack of clarity causes fear, and fear will paralyze this district; it will lead to people resigning, it’s not a good thing.”

Rockwell reminded staff that “the Parents’ Bill of Rights does apply to all parents. It does not apply to some parents. The parents of trans and non-binary students have just as much right to direct their child’s education as every other parent. And we need to honor those rights by not instructing our teachers to violate them.” She said that if she wasn’t satisfied with the revised LGBTQ Guide, she would bring it to a school board vote: “This is the hill I am willing to die on.” 

“Children will die if their gender identity is not affirmed”

Rockwell continued, “Many of you might know that before I was elected to this board, I worked hard with Dr. Haller, who was here tonight, to help advocate for mask mandates. And I did that in part because my daughter is disabled, she has multiple medical disabilities, and for her getting COVID could be deadly, or it could be permanently debilitating… I fought for my daughter’s life and I fought for the lives of other children like her and many other children–we still don’t know why some people get severely ill, become permanently disabled, or die, and others don’t. But before vaccines were available, I fought to keep mask mandates in this county, even though it was against state guidance, because children’s lives were at risk; my child’s life was at risk. And I know there was a speaker who said we need to focus on instruction first: Children who are not safe cannot learn. We have a hierarchy of basic needs… Protecting our children’s safety comes first. And with COVID it was very obvious, especially before vaccines, that we were dealing with a life-or-death situation. But this is a life-or-death situation, too. Children will die if their gender identity is not affirmed. They will die. They will die from suicide. They will be beat up, bullied, possibly even murdered.”

She continued, “This is a genocide against trans people–make no mistake; it is… I’m not going to sit neutrally… If our staff is not brave enough to handle this in procedure, then I will bring it before this board because that is how important it is. We’re talking about the lives and safety of our children. So I’m begging our superintendent and his staff to make sure that we take the most affirming possible interpretation that we can of this law.”

Member Leanetta McNealy said she has a niece “who’s LGBTQ, we say all kinds of pronouns, and I’m very proud of her… We stand beside [her], and we love her to death. And we will protect her in every manner that we can.”

Certain said she didn’t know about the training that the citizens spoke about until she “read it in the paper. That didn’t come before the board, but I would like to see the Guide as that is revised for another iteration.”