Two years ago, Coy Mathis, an angel-faced 1st grader, caused a sensation at Eagleside Elementary School in Fountain, Colo. Born biologically male, Coy dressed and identified as a transgender female and insisted on using the girls’ bathroom at school. School officials said absolutely not.
Meanwhile in Maine, a school district reacted to controversy and reversed a decision that had allowed Nicole Maines, a transgender 5th grader who was born male, to use the girls’ bathroom.
Both rebuffs sparked legal clashes and are symbolic of a still-unfolding nationwide drama for K-12 public schools. Educators in large and small communities increasingly confront delicate issues surrounding transgender students — youngsters who feel trapped by the gender designation of the body they were born into and either socially or medically transform to what they feel is their true identity.
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