Students from a New York state high school staged a walkout to demonstrate against the transgender bathroom policy in their school. The protest occurred at John Jay High School, which is under the Wappingers Central School District.
The school allows students to use the restroom of their choice that aligns with their self-identified gender. “A bunch of people from our school, John Jay, feel uncomfortable,” Shauna Neilan, a senior at John Jay High School, said.
“We want to change that and give them their own spaces to make us more comfortable and them more comfortable,” she said. Neilan initiated a petition claiming that incidents involving a transgender student occurred in a restroom.
However, Wappingers Central School District Superintendent Dwight Bonk stated that he has no knowledge of such incidents. Bonk mentioned that the school plans to hold code of conduct talks with students involved in the protest.
Additionally, Cory Pittore, a senior at the school, participated in a counter-protest. “I feel as though that we shouldn’t be silenced no matter what,” Pittore, who identifies as a male, said.
“We are human, just like everyone else. I, myself, have been struggling with this for so long, and I just feel like we shouldn’t be silenced because we’re human ourselves,” Pittore said.
According to Spectrum News, a group named Defense of Democracy, focused on promoting inclusivity, took charge of organizing the counter-protest.
“It is not enough to just stand up with trans students, we must fight their oppressors,” said one of the organizers, according to cable outlet News 12 Westchester.
In a statement, Bonk said the school follows the law. “Under state and federal laws (including Title IX and New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act), school districts are required to provide access to transgender students to the restroom of the sex with which they identify, which may not be the student’s sex assigned at birth,” he said.
“The District is fully aware of its obligations to its transgender population (as well as to the entirety of the student body) under these laws and remains fully committed to protecting these students and ensuring that they can safely access these rights,” the statement said.
His statement said the protest “involved approximately 20 students that was peaceful and concluded without incident.
“I was personally present at the school during the protest and the students had the opportunity to exercise their free speech rights to express their positions in a manner which is both respectful, safe, and in accordance with the requirements of the School District and governmental authorities,” he said.
