This month, female students in the Clarkstown Central School District in New York spoke out against a policy that would allow men who believe they are women to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms.
The students bravely spoke out in a school board meeting against the new Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination policy, according to Lohud.
“I’m here to express that I no longer feel safe within the four walls at [Felix Festa MS Campus] and I feel that my freedom has been taken away from me. I have been waiting since second grade for swimming during school at Festa, only now to find out that I am sharing a locker room with a trans female who may still have a penis. I do not feel comfortable being exposed to that and I no longer feel safe,” one female student said. Felix Festa is a middle school, according to the school district’s website.
“This has nothing to do with any being a bad person. It is simply that I do not feel mature enough to view any man’s penis whether they identify as a female or a man,” she added.
Another student added that “private spaces are one of the most important things in a growing boy or girl’s life…everyone should feel safe, but I and my fellow students are being forced to sign petitions to allow these things to follow through. It becomes bullying. You are not teaching me to be okay with who you are, you are pushing me to show my vulnerable parts to somebody I may not trust. This is not hate speech. This is a 15-year-old who is affected by these decisions you push upon us.”
COURAGE! https://t.co/yhnYIm1max
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) February 16, 2024
According to Westchester News 12, one student called for the resignation of members of the school board that support the inclusion policy, which was met with applause from half of the room.
The controversy over the school district’s bathroom policies came one month after the district adopted a New York state law allowing students to use facilities that align with their “gender identity.”
"I have many friends, specifically girls, who tell me all the time how uncomfortable they are that biological men are allowed to use the women's locker room, the women's bathroom," River Traitz, a junior at Clarkstown South High School, told the outlet.
Last year, Townhall covered how New York decided to move forward with a slew of “woke” transgender policies. One in particular asserted that school officials should keep a student’s gender transition concealed from their parents if the student does not give the school consent to inform them.
“Each student has an individualized life situation that requires different school plans and responses, based on the needs, and wants of the student. It is paramount that schools are cautious about understanding each student’s sense of safety and ability to be ‘out’ at home and school,” the state-issued guidance said.