On May 13th, President Obama issued a directive
to public schools requiring them to allow transgender students to use the
bathrooms and lockers of the gender to which they associate. If a school did not cooperate, the President
threatened to take away their federal funding.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor heard arguments against
this directive and put a temporary stop on the order. Several other states are suing the President
on this issue.
The arguments surround two issues. First is federal overreach – opponents of the
directive claim that the directive came without time for input and that the
President did not follow the appropriate rule-making process. The second issue is terminology. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on
sex, but the word “gender” is not utilized.
Likely, this decision will be appealed and we will hear more
about it in the coming months. In the
meantime, healthcare facilities can be proactive about future transgender
issues. Here are a few suggestions from
the American Medical Student Association:
1. Have a
gender-neutral bathroom at your facility.
Many facilities already have bathrooms designated for family use – these
could also be used as gender-neutral bathrooms.
2. When asking for
gender on a health history form, leave a blank so that people can fill in their
choice, rather than only offering two choices.
3. Use gender-neutral
language when discussing a patient’s partner.
4. Be aware of health
disparities and inequalities that occur in the transgender population.
For more information, please see:
References:
Contributed by Valerie Connor, MA, CCC-SLP, CHES Adjunct Faculty, Saint Joseph's College
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