WATERLOO – Parents in this town 20 miles southwest of Belleville are objecting to the local school district’s bathroom policy for transgender students.
St. Louis TV station KMOV reported that parents in Waterloo Community Unit School District #5 were circulating a petition in opposition to the district’s updated policy that allows trans students to use the bathroom for their gender.
The petition is being carried on SpeakforStudents.org, whose site also has forms for families to opt out of sex education classes that follow Illinois standards. Like other recent controversies in the state, the petition claims the district passed a policy “allowing members of the opposite sex” to use bathrooms for a particular gender.
Families told the TV station several transgender students started using bathrooms for their gender which sparked many students lining up to use the single-user bathroom in the nurse’s office. The district then updated its policy to make it clear and bring it inline with state law.
District Superintendent Brian Charron told KMOV that gender identity is a protected class by the Illinois Human Rights Act. Charron also pushed back against Republican politicians suggesting the district should ignore the law.
Know a useful resource?
Share it with your community!
We aggregate links that connect to resources across Illinois. If you know of a site that should be included or want your website listed, please submit it!
