Transgender students may soon be able to associate with the gender they identify with most, whether it is on or off the field.
Assembly Bill 1266, the Student Success and Opportunity Act, was introduced into the Legislature last month and, if passed, it will allow transgender students to use locker rooms, participate in gym class or play for their school’s sports team of the gender they associate with, according to the Joe Carlson, co-principal of Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
California law already prohibits discrimination in education, but transgender students are still excluded from physical education, athletic teams and other school activities and facilities, especially in high schools, according to Helen Carroll, sports project director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
“It [AB 1266] reinforces what needs to be done to comply with the law, which is that there should be equal opportunity and experiences that transgender students get to have just like everyone else,” Carroll said. “That can be as small as using the correct pronouns for their name or playing on a sport’s team in their gender identity.”
The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and co-authored by Senators Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Ricardo Lara (D-Los Angeles), according to the Transgender Law Center.
AB 1266 would enforce the responsibilities of school administrators, like protecting their students from discrimination and ensuring they have an equal chance to graduate, according to the bill’s text.
“The transgender students should be able to be in the locker room that matches their gender identity,” Carroll said. “In that locker room, there should be an area for privacy for any student that feels like they may need that.”
Carroll defined transgender as someone who feels internally that he or she was born in the wrong body and identifies with a different gender.
“Many colleges and universities are very aware of transgender students and what they need,” Carroll said. “This bill kind of spells out that transgender students need to feel equal and successful in the classroom just like other students.”
Some Cal State Long Beach students said they are comfortable with the bill’s proposals.
“I don’t see that [AB 1266] as a problem, but if you were a girl [who] then associated yourself as a man, you might be lacking those attributes, but I feel that you are who you are,” freshman anthropology major Colin Cassady said.
Nika Daroui is a part of CSULB’s Gay-Straight Alliance, whose mission is to provide a safe place for all individuals regardless of sexual orientation.
“Times are changing, and people in this country are slowly starting to be a little more open minded and accepting,” Daroui said via email. “If that bill comes to this campus along with other California schools, I feel like it’ll be a big and positive step for the LGBT community and similar equal right movements.”
These policies are beginning to be accepted, especially in athletics in high schools, widely across the United States, in California, Nevada and Washington, Carroll said.
Senior communications major Kyle Brown said he feels that if a female who identifies as a male athlete chooses to play for a men’s sports team, any challenges that student faces are his right to take on.
“It’s really just about going out and doing your best,” Brown said. “It’s her [a transgender athlete’s] choice of going out and trying her best, and if she can’t keep up, in a way it’s nothing against her.”
