Trans Students Testify Against School Bathroom Restrictions

Transgender students delivered emotional testimony Thursday against a bill that would spell out which bathrooms public school children can use in Wisconsin and which ones they can’t.

The proposal would restrict the boys room to those who were born biologically male, and the girls room to those who were born biologically female. Transgender high school students like 14-year-old Aden Haley-Lock of Madison told legislators it represented a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be transgender.

“A trans woman is a real woman and a trans man is a real man,” said Haley-Lock.

Leland Hilliard of Madison agreed, and said schools should respect their identities: “Bathrooms in public schools are a public accommodation, and I am part of the public.”

Transgender student Jack of Appleton said that if the bill passes, he’d switch to an online school.

“I think high school’s hard enough, and it’s hard enough as a trans kid, but it’s very hard if you’re a trans kid who can’t use the bathroom,” said Jack.

Backers of the bill also testified, telling lawmakers that it’s wrong for public schools to let students use the bathroom of their choice. Julaine Appling — the director of Wisconsin Family Action, which helped write the bill — was among them.

“It’s not appropriate for school districts to treat the use of minors for bathroom and changing room facilities as a cause,” she said. “It is a social experiment that borders on child exploitation.”

Under the bill, parents could ask schools to let their kids use a single-occupancy restrooms or a faculty bathroom, though transgender students say they wouldn’t want to be singled out.