The Sarasota County School Board has been tasked by its students to grant equal access to the bathrooms and dressing rooms for all “trans” students based on the sex that they identify throughout all of the Sarasota County Schools. After several school board meetings, with both the defenders and detractors having their say, the Sarasota County School Board decided to punt their responsibility onto the principals and the students who dare to “out” themselves by asking for their right to use the bathroom and dressing rooms like everyone else.  

Stephen P. Covert, Ph.D., principal, Pine View School for the Gifted, made a bold step when he granted transgender students of all of the schools under his care the access to specific bathrooms for their use. A grand gesture, but a move that did not go far enough, in my opinion. For the limited time that students are given to travel between classes, not only does it provide an unnecessary journey to use the designated facility, it can also cause physical illness and undue stress to the student who has to make it across campus to use the bathroom or change for gym class.  

When transgender students are required to use separate facilities, they are essentially “outing” themselves in public, and it does not go unnoticed by other students. While designated bathrooms may seem like a compromise, “separate, but equal” still shows a misunderstanding of a transgendered person. “Medical opinion is unequivocal that gender identity is not a choice,” states Daniel Tilley, staff attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union.

It has been estimated that at least 700,000 adults (0.3 percent) identify as Transgender. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey reveals that 41 percent of transgender participants had attempted to take their own lives: “Sexual assault was the biggest cause, followed by physical assault, harassment in school, and job loss due to bias.” In 2014, The Williams Institute did an analysis of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that more than half of people who have been bullied at school due to anti-transgender bias had attempted suicide. These numbers are said to be underreported due to the fact that many are still in hiding.

In addition, The Williams Institute survey shows that “15,500 transgender individuals are serving on active duty or in the Guard or Reserve forces. We also estimate that there are an estimated 134,300 transgender individuals who are veterans or are retired from Guard or Reserve service.”  

It’s not just about doing the right thing for equality. It’s also about school funding. In a recent letter sent to the Sarasota County School Board by the ACLU, it states that, “Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) prohibits discrimination based on sex in any education program, such as a public school, that receives federal financial assistance. Federal courts have ruled that Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination “on the basis of sex” protects students from discrimination based on their gender identity, gender nonconformity, or transgender status. Likewise, many courts—including in the Eleventh Circuit, whose rulings govern Florida, Georgia, and Alabama— have also recognized that discrimination against transgender people is sex discrimination under other federal laws.” Stating case law, it puts the school board on notice the ACLU is watching to see what the school board will do. 

It was young high school students who taught me that the acceptance of a transgendered person was understood and that the real problem was of my generation, not theirs. Let’s not make this a big deal. The school board needs to be the adult in the room. Don’t make each student ask for what is rightly theirs. Give transgender students equal access to the bathroom and changing room with the sex they identify with. And don’t wait until someone decides to take this up in court.

Susan Nilon is the host of The Nilon Report and a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Contact her at