Around 5000 to 3000 BC, there existed the Gala priests of Mesopotamia, worshipers of the Sumerian goddess Inanna who were believed by scholars to be transgender and gender-nonconforming. During the Delhi Sultanate (1226-1526) as well as the Mughal Empire (1526-1707), a third gender known as hijra existed, individuals who are referenced in religious texts and historical documents. The hijra community still exists today, and is legally recognized. In the 1700s, the Itelmens of Siberia acknowledged an identity called Koekchuch, individuals assigned male at birth but who identified as and with women. And in several Native American nations, there exist more than two genders, with identities of gender fluidity or nonconformity, such as the Two-Spirited.
The list goes on. Clearly, being trans or nonbinary is not a new– or unnatural– concept, but rather one that has been present world-wide for thousands of years. Yet there are many who believe that being trans is a recent invention, arguing that there are so many more trans individuals now than there were in past years. More accurately, people are more able to freely explore their gender identity now than they perhaps were in 5000 BC.
Or–they used to be. The signing of several oppressive executive orders by President Trump, such as executive order 14168 “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”; 14187 “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation”; and 14190 “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” has set us back ages with their use of medically inaccurate and fear mongering language against trans individuals. These executive orders cannot overrule federal law, but they raise an alarm for the safety and future of trans people, contributing to the spread of false information that puts trans students in particular in harm’s way. The Trump administration is attacking transgender youth, and we must not be silent. Thankfully, supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ adolescents exist too. New York overall remains adamant about protecting its transgender students, and there are several teachers right here at Haldane who have taken steps to ensure that every student in their classroom feels welcome and safe. I talked to just three of these amazing teachers who have made their support for their LGBTQ+ students known: English teacher Nancy Martinez, psychology teacher Brian Ogden, and band teacher Jessica Stein.
When asked why, in general, protecting trans students in schools is important to her, Martinez discussed how interactions with trans students today and in past years has made her aware of the challenges they face. She stated, “As a teacher, I believe that every kid has the right to a safe environment, and since this is something that students could be subjected to ridicule and bullying for, that’s the main reason–protecting general civil rights and human rights within the bounds of school.”
To the same question, Ogden responded, “Because they’re my students. Anybody who sets foot in my classroom, doesn’t matter what their identity is, I’m going to protect them because they are who they are.” He continued, “I have a problem with anyone who is so vehemently against people trying to be themselves. There’s nothing more special to anybody than being their genuine, individual self, and nobody should be able to infringe upon that.”
Stein answered by discussing the importance of students feeling safe to be their authentic self in schools. “I think just making students as comfortable as possible in their own skin and helping them through whatever of their identity journey that they’re on, in whatever way I can be supportive of that, that’s what I strive to do,” Stein stated. Stein stressed that she and other arts teachers are always welcoming of students from every walk of life. She went on to say, “When a student is here and they’re in the school building, and they feel that they can really be themselves, then they can really learn.”
Haldane also has the wonderful identity club, a safe space for both queer students and allies to gather and discuss LGBTQ+ terms, culture, history, and relevant laws. It is advised by high school English teacher Anna Pearce and special education and math teacher Andrea McCue.
While students benefit from Haldane’s supportive environment, the Trump Administration’s recent executive orders threaten the safety of trans students in schools nationwide. Although each of these attempts to violate trans students’ rights in a school setting– from debates over bathroom access to excluding LGBTQ+ identities from lessons, and more– deserves an essay to highlight their impact, the particularly dangerous push to require schools to inform parents of their teen’s social transition (changing of pronouns and/or name) threatens a central goal and value of schools everywhere: student safety.
The safety of students cannot be argued with, no matter what someone may think about transgender individuals. America must set its judgments aside and see the whole person, rather than just the harmful misinterpretation of transness that our government is spreading. There are those who use the argument of adolescent safety to push for laws requiring teachers to notify parents when they discover, or are trusted with, a trans student’s identity. Several states, such as Iowa, already have such laws in existence; and the recent executive order 14242 calling for the closing of the Department of Education will contribute to this growing threat against trans students’ right to privacy and respect within a school setting. While I agree that parents should know information about their teens when it comes to their health and safety, I believe it would actually be contrary to student health and safety if their social transition were made known to their parents without the student’s knowledge, consent, or agency over how the information is shared. Many trans adolescents have supportive and safe homes, but there are those who aren’t so lucky. It is a matter of trans students’ safety that they get to control when, and to whom, their identity is made known, because home may be too dangerous a place for them to exist as themselves unharmed.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, citing a 2018 survey out of Chapin Hall, LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their heterosexual, cisgender peers. A 2021 study done by The Trevor Project found that 28% of LGBTQ+ youth experience homelessness or housing instability at some point, with transgender and nonbinary youth having the highest rates. In the latter study, the homelessness reason was provided and varied from running away from home due to abusive conditions, to being kicked out of home by their guardian because of their queer identity. According to a study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics, transgender adolescents experience “elevated rates of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse” in teenhood compared to cisgender adolescents. Home is not a safe place for some transgender adolescents, and so disclosure to parents is not in the best interest of student safety.
Even if a student’s parents are trans-supportive, I believe that the reveal of their teen’s transgender identity should still be in the hands of that teen. Coming out is often a harrowing experience, filled with stress and fear. Trans students, like all queer students, deserve the grace to control their own coming-out story, to have total say in who gets to know about their trans identity and who does not. They should be able to pick the time, the place, and the words for the discussion, rather than have it ripped from them without their knowledge or consent. If they feel understood and seen at school, with their friends or teachers, then they should be able to choose to come out there, without fear of being outed to the world beyond by the individuals they trusted. Then they can carry on being themselves: trans, and. Trans, and artists, and mathematicians, and scientists; students like any other with great ideas and loving friends and sorrows and dreams. Trans, and, and, and.
Adolescence is a time of self-discovery. Some teenagers have never once questioned their gender identity. Others have always known that their gender was different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Still others experiment with gender and presentation, only to return to their original identity after some time exploring– and this is okay, too. All youth, no matter their identity, should be treated with respect and without judgement, and given space to explore and learn more about their own self as they grow into adulthood.
To provide feedback, express a concern, ask a question, or submit a letter to the editor, email
keira.shanahan@haldaneschool.org.
