A two-minute video from a US regional television station from the end of September 2022 is also raising eyebrows in German-speaking, transphobic circles: After incidents in a girls' locker room on the volleyball team, Randolph Union High School in Vermont had the locker room temporarily closed.

MIMIKAMA
An example of how the events in Randolph are framed.

Regional station WCAX blamed an underage trans girl for the incidents. However, this is not mentioned in the interview, only the other side in the person of a teammate:

“This is a big deal. Everyone's like, 'Why can't you go in the locker room?'" Blake Allen said. She, along with her teammates, are currently not allowed into the locker room after some of the girls on the team spoke out against allowing a transgender player into the girls' locker room. “My mother wants me to do this interview to try to make a change,” Allen said. “I feel like I shouldn't be accused of harassment or bullying just because I expressed my opinion - that I don't want a biological male to change clothes with me. All lawsuits should be stopped.”

The trans girl's teammate in an interview with WCAX .

An “isolated case” in a small American town, why should we care? Because the incident led to far-reaching debates about identity politics in the USA. And because the topic is also taken up and inflated by transphobic circles in German-speaking countries.

What happened at Randolph High?

From the perspective of the trans girl's mother, the events are very different: Since moving to Randolph, her daughter has no longer been confronted with this "open negativity regarding her being transgender." Until the incident, she had “never felt unwelcome or like she didn’t belong.” The girl was also able to change in the same room as her teammates without any problems. But around mid-September she told her mother that she had been harassed by the other players while she was changing.

Three other girls had yelled at her to go out and stop looking at them. She then changed in a toilet cubicle. The coach of the volleyball team overheard the incident and later reported it to the school administration. Two days later, someone from the administration called the mother: three people had reported that her daughter had been bullied and harassed. The school would therefore launch an investigation. Until the end of the investigation, no one is allowed to stay in the locker room unsupervised.

A media report and its transphobic effects

A week later, regional station WCAX broadcast a short report including an interview with a teammate. An article with more background information followed the next day. The problematic thing was that only the transphobic side was given the opportunity to comment. The trans girl was framed as the perpetrator and the school administration declared her accomplice:

Other team members and parents expressed similar concerns and contacted the school with them. They were told via email that under state law, transgender students can use the locker room with which they identify. The school would have plenty of space where students who are uncomfortable with the laws can change in privacy.

They want all the girls who are feeling uncomfortable - pretty much 10 girls - to change in a single cubicle, which would take over 30 minutes. If one person were to change separately, it would only take a minute, so no extra time.

Teammate in an interview

The weekly newspaper Seven Days outlines a chronology of the emerging shitstorm: While the school administration and teaching staff dealt with the incident very sensitively, negative news and direct attacks exploded on Facebook. That was also the moment when major right-wing media outlets became aware of the story and further fueled the conflict. For example, reported B. Fox News reported that the volleyball players were banned from using the locker room "after some members spoke out against a biological male wanting to change with them."

The police chief of a neighboring community wrote an op-ed that was published Vermont Daily Chronicle He claimed that it is a violation of Vermont's law against voyeurism for a male student to watch a female student change her bra or underwear in a women's locker room or restroom. A Twitter comment from trans athlete Caitlin Jenner added fuel to the fire, as did a Facebook comment from an evangelical hate preacher with 10 million followers.

Unsurprisingly, the situation at Randolph High School continued to worsen: The following Monday, the mother was called to pick up her daughter from school in the middle of the day because she had been called a "pervert" and "freak" in the cafeteria and hallways. had been insulted. She said her daughter is torn because if she doesn't go to school, she feels like she's letting other transgender and queer students down — but she also knows she has to take care of herself. The district website was eventually taken down when it was hacked and featured anti-trans slogans. School employees reported hate mail and death threats.

Coordinated hatred

LGBTQ+ youth in Vermont “experience violence and constant threats on a daily basis,” Dana Kaplan explained in an interview with the news site VTDigger . Kaplan is executive director of Outright Vermont , an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization that provides resources for queer and trans students and families across the country. She pointed to “the strain that people on the margins of society face in a climate where there is a lot of coordinated hatred.” When a local story gets national attention, there are “networks of hate groups ready to step in and create hostility and discomfort,” Kaplan said.

Transgender and non-binary youth in the U.S. suffer extremely high rates of suicide and bullying, and mental health risk is higher among transgender and non-binary youth of color. 64% of LGBTQ+ people experience hate and harassment online. “It is critical that school districts and school leaders serve all of their students so that everyone has access to a safe and positive education,” Kaplan said.

Legal situation in Vermont

The legal situation is actually very clear: No one may be discriminated against on the basis of “race, creed, color, national origin, marital status, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity” ( 9 VSA § 4502 ). This is further specified in the context of educational institutions:

It is the policy of the State of Vermont that all educational institutions in Vermont provide a safe, orderly, civil, and positive learning environment. Harassment, bullying and bullying have no place and will not be tolerated in Vermont schools. No Vermont student should feel threatened or discriminated against while enrolled in a Vermont school.

Vermont Statutes: 16 VSA § 570

Based on these laws, the state education agency issued a notice that sets out “best practices for schools regarding transgender and gender non-conforming students.” The section “Accessibility of toilets and changing rooms” states:

When transgender students use restrooms and locker rooms, schools must consider numerous factors, including: the transgender student's preference, protecting the student's privacy, maximizing the transgender student's social integration, minimizing stigmatization student, ensuring equal participation opportunities, the age of the student and protecting the safety of the students involved.

A transgender student should not be required to use a locker room or restroom that is inconsistent with their gender identity.

Schools may consider including gender-neutral restrooms when planning new construction and/or building renovations.

Excerpted from “Continuing Best Practices for Schools Regarding Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students,” Vermont Agency of Education

Political intervention

NBC5 Report: Randolph Union High School sparks national controversy over decision on transgender student

After the death threats, the Republican Governor of Vermont Phil Scott felt compelled to make a statement: Everyone should calm down first and discuss the case in a level-headed, friendly and empathetic manner. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released the following commentary:

This incident should serve as a reminder that all schools have a legal and moral obligation to ensure that every student is safe, supported and fully included in the school environment. We have a shared responsibility to respond when trans youth are harmed to reassure them that their rights, their dignity and their humanity are not at issue.

ACLU Vermont statement on the Randolph incident

The reception in Germany?

In the United States, mainly fundamental Christian, conservative to right-wing extremist circles took up the incident in Randolph. And in German-speaking countries? The case is mainly discussed on Twitter by feminists with transphobic attitudes. Trans people are denied their rights and needs when it is taken into account that they are only a minority of 0.1 percent compared to the 50% women in society. This is followed by fears of a dam breaking, abuse and rape.

It becomes absurd when changing rooms are confused with toilets and the story continues to be fantasized: “In the USA, schoolgirls have already stopped drinking during the day to avoid having to go to the toilet - because they now encounter aggressive boys in the girls' toilet. As a result, the girls develop bladder infections or stay at home and therefore miss lessons. Sexual assaults and even rapes of schoolgirls have already occurred due to the “unisex policy.”

It is important to see that there are similarly frightening figures for Europe as in the USA:

79% of trans* people reported derogatory comments, verbal or physical or sexual violence or threats in public (European Hate Crime Study 2009, Press for Change). TGEU's 'Transrespect vs Transphobia' project recorded a total of 1,731 murders of trans people between January 2008 and December 2014. 77 of these murders occurred in Europe.

Noah Keuzenkamp , ​​TGEU

It is understandable that feminists are concerned about achievements that pioneers have fought for for decades. On the other hand, there are few minorities who are exposed to more hostility than trans people. But how did Gov. Phil Scott put it? Everyone should first calm down and discuss the topic calmly and respectfully. Putting yourself in the other person's shoes could help.


Young and transsexual? Puberty blockers: The federal government's information page does not recommend, but rather provides information


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