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Loading ...Judge rebukes school in trans student suit
02.03.2009 4:36pm EST
(Gary, Indiana) A federal judge has ordered Gary Community Schools to pay legal fees after finding that school administrators had ignored a ruling to turn over documents to lawyers for a former student. The student is suing the district for barring him from the senior prom because he was wearing a ball gown.
Attorneys asked the court to sanction the school district, saying it could not properly prepare its case without the documents which were to have been turned over last May.Last fall, Judge Paul R. Cherry ordered the district to turn over the files and fined the school board $540 for dragging its heels. This time the fine is expected to be substantially higher.
In December 2007, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of K.K. Logan challenging a Gary School Corporation policy barring clothing that advertises sexual orientation or indicates that a student’s gender is different from the student’s sex.
Logan argues that the policy violates students’ First Amendment freedom of expression. Logan also claims that his exclusion from prom constitutes discrimination on the basis of gender.
Students and teachers knew that K.K. Logan was transgendered. During his senior year, Logan attended West Side High expressing a deeply rooted femininity in his appearance and demeanor. At school, Logan wore makeup, accessories and clothing typically associated with girls his age.
However, on May 19, 2006, Principal Diane Rouse stretched her arms across the door of the senior prom, blocking Logan’s entrance because Logan was wearing a pink gown. Classmates and friends rallied to Logan’s defense to no avail—even though a female student was allowed to attend dressed in a tuxedo.
Principal Rouse enforced a Gary School Corporation policy that forbids any clothing or accessories that “advertise sexual orientation” or “portray the wearer as a person of the opposite gender.”
Ragen Hatcher, the attorney for the school district, said the board was not deliberately trying to prevent Lambda from access to the files, but that gathering the information had taken longer than anticipated.
Hatcher said that she is confident the board will win its case.
Lizzy Said said: “Why does this article refer to the student as “he”? I hope it is because that is the student’s preferred gender pronoun. If not, it is incredibly disrespectful to use the wrong pronoun and journalists working for an LGBT news source should be aware of this.”
I agree. What’s up with this–particulalry at 365gay? Haven’t you all read the AP Stylebook? Or have any respect for someone’s gender identity?
the message i read here is, it’s still not right to be female.
“Ragen Hatcher, the attorney for the school district, said the board was not deliberately trying to prevent Lambda from access to the files, but that gathering the information had taken longer than anticipated.”
BULLSHIT!
Freedom is always worth it… If not we would still be drinking tea between 2 and 5…. I believe that if one person isn’t free then we all are not really free.. Any day the tide could turn and we could be on the receiving end of our freedoms being taken away….
Here you have a number of problems that all involve increasing levels of penalties against not only the victim here, but the average citizen.
The school board in question is a public school, and therefore is forbidden to discriminate in the first place. It’s paid for with taxpayer money. Now, the victim has a suit filed against the absolutely guilty organization, which will pay for whatever defense it wants with even more taxpayer money. Then, on the chance that the victim wins, the suit will be settled with even more taxpayer money. This sort of situation doesn’t just harm the person they’re slamming, but it harms every single person in the community. How much is it really worth to the average citizen that they should have money taken out of their pockets just to keep this one person from living freely?
And once all this is over, what are the odds of anyone being held accountable?
Classmates and friends rallied to Logan’s defense to no avail—even though a female student was allowed to attend dressed in a tuxedo.
The hypocrisy here is enough to make me want to puke.
Why does this article refer to the student as “he”? I hope it is because that is the student’s preferred gender pronoun. If not, it is incredibly disrespectful to use the wrong pronoun and journalists working for an LGBT news source should be aware of this.
Using the wrong pronouns in journalism regarding transgender people is like newspapers that try to write pro-diversity articles but use slurs to refer to minority groups rather than their preferred language. LGBT news should take leadership in this area, portraying the range of transgender experiences, from guys wearing dresses to transgender women wearing dresses, by being attentive to using the right pronouns.
I hope that when this case finally gets to court the judge rips the school district a new one.
I can understand a policy denying students the right to wear clothing that advertises their sexual orientation. It violates freedom of expression, but many places have a dress code and provided the policy is applied equally to heterosexual and homosexual students I can accept it (though certainly not like it).
However, for a transgendered student, the clothes they wear can be vital to their self image, and forcing them to wear clothing “appropriate to their sex” can be psychologically damaging. To deny a transgendered student entrance to their prom because they’re wearing the right clothes – sick. Simply sick.
The only comfort I take from this story is the news that “his” friends stood by him. It offers at least some hope for the next generation.