South Australia just announced a brilliant new policy protecting trans students’ rights
The state of South Australia has announced a new policy to improve the experience of transgender school students.
The new policy allows students to use gender-appropriate bathrooms, to use their preferred names and to wear uniforms appropriate to their gender identity.
South Australia’s Education Department announced the new policy this week.
It also extends the rights given to trans students to board with students of the gender they identify with at school camps away from campuses.
According to the department, the new policy will ensure “consistent” treatment of trans students by teachers and school leaders.
“The difference is that this clearly articulates what we require from schools,” executive director of statewide services and child development Ann-Marie Hayes told The Advertiser.
“We had a number of queries from schools and parents, and we needed to make it very clear what our legislative requirements were and how schools enact them – supporting principals in particular but also families in what they can expect from schools,” she adds.
Addressing concerns by those opposed to the policy, Hayes said leaders would ensure that students would not be able to pretend to be transgender in order to abuse the policy to enter changing rooms of fellow students.
