CBSD moves ahead to ban kids from participating in sports according to their gender identity.
Young people learn many important life lessons in sports: leadership, confidence, self-respect, self-discipline, teamwork, and much more. Sports and athletics are an important part of education—something no child should be denied simply because of who they are.
During the October 10th school board meeting Central Bucks board majority voted to advance policy 123.3 “Sex-Based Distinctions in Athletics” to what amounts to a ban on transgender students’ participation in school sports, as the policy prohibits students from competing according to their gender identity. Attorneys for the Education Law Center (ELC) believe the policy violates federal and state civil rights laws. We hope against hope that the majority board take their legal concerns into consideration. The policy will be up for a final vote in November.
Transgender students, like all other students, thrive when they’re treated with dignity and respect. When school officials recognize that a transgender girl is a girl during the school day, but then reverse that acceptance to insist she’s a boy when sports practice starts, the student suffers. This is not equal treatment.
Board members have said that nothing in the policy prevents trans kids from participating in sports—on the team that corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. We question whether they have reviewed the statistics on the likelihood of trans kids suffering abuse in locker rooms. When those who support this policy say they want to protect girls, they do not include trans girls. Nor trans boys who were assigned female at birth.
We’ve seen nothing to suggest Central Bucks educators and coaches were asked for their input. We have seen no evidence that our board consulted any experts who support trans inclusive athletic policies. We know of a number of resources for school boards who wish to create school athletics policies that protect transgender youth and ensure a level playing field for all students could use to guide them such as here, here, and here.
Instead, the policy came directly from the Independence Law Center (ILC)—a group devoted to “defend human life at all stages and defend the rights of the people to freely exercise their religion…”—that fits a concerning pattern of policies that target LGBT kids in Central Bucks schools.
Since 2022, Central Buck’s private collaboration with the ILC has paved the way to anti-inclusion policies in that make it easier for Central Bucks to:
remove books from the library—many of the books under discussion feature LGBT + racial themes
restrict teachers’ speech and expression, focusing specifically on removing Pride flags, refusing students’ requests for name and pronoun use unless specifically authorized by their parents
restrict classroom discussion of partisan, political, and social policy to curriculum only.
Here’s what the Education Law Center (ELC) attorneys said in a letter urging the sent to CB school board directors and solicitor before the vote last Tuesday:
“ELC urges members of the School Board to vote against proposed Policy 123.3 as the policy violates federal and state civil rights laws.”
They explain why:
U.S. Supreme Court as well as federal appellate and district level courts have held that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is a form of sex discrimination.
Department of Education and Department of Justice have made it clear that they will enforce Title IX protections to challenge policies that discriminate against transgender athletes.
In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Education proposed a new rule affirming that Title IX requires that transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students be permitted to play school sports free from discrimination. The proposed rule, which is expected to be final this Fall, makes clear that a categorical ban on trans students participating in sports consistent with their gender identity would not be permitted under Title IX
Pennsylvania Human Relations Act also expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes gender identity.
What comes as a surprise to no one, the board majority ignored the discrimination concerns of the Education Law Center about anti-trans discrimination. Instead, they moved their policy through to final vote in November. Note there will be no public policy meeting in between.
The majority of us in Central Bucks know that NONE of these policies help LGBT kids feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. The majority board knows this. A year ago, thirteen educators from UPenn’s Graduate School of Education advised the board to vote against Policy 321:
The policy “…implicitly threatens educators’ capacity to create safe and welcoming learning environments for children. It privileges some students while perpetuating a system where other students, those who are most at risk, are denied equal representation. And thus, the revised policy works against its own interests by creating a work environment hostile to the fundamental work of educators”.
A sad, familiar sound.
Clearly the board majority shows no interest in working toward inclusive and equitable schools.
If they did, they’d cut all ties with the Independence Law Center and get back to principled policy deliberation, research-based decision making, best practices in education, and a commitment to the best interest of each and every student.
You can read more about policy 123.3 passing first vote here.
You can read more about ILC’s involvement in CB policy here.
You can read policy 123.3 here.
You can read Education Law Center’s letter here and here. * Please note that language about requiring birth certificates was removed in policy committee prior to Tuesday’s vote.