Transgender Bathroom

(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

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When it comes to the national transgender restroom debate, Alabama is taking a back seat to Mississippi and North Carolina, at least for now.

With the Legislature out of session, the issue isn't likely to percolate in the Statehouse halls anytime soon. But it could come up for discussion next month in Montgomery at the state Board of Education meeting.

One of the board members, Matthew Brown, suggests that the state require public school students to use whichever restroom corresponds to their biological sex as recorded on their birth certificate. Other board members have been silent on the matter, however, as has the Department of Education, led by new interim superintendent Philip Cleveland.

Matthew Brown

Brown is a lame duck, set to lose his seat in January next year after having been defeated for re-election in the GOP primary. But he's going to request action on his suggestion during the June 9 board meeting.

Local school systems throughout the state are waiting and watching for the board's next moves.

"We won't do anything before we hear from the state board," said Nez Calhoun, spokeswoman at Jefferson County Schools.

Added Rena Philips, spokeswoman at Mobile County Public Schools: "At this time, as is the usual practice with federal regulations, Mobile County Public Schools is waiting for directions from the state of Alabama and the Alabama state Department of Education."

'Protect constituents'

President Barack Obama issued a directive on May 13 that transgender students at public schools may access the restrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity.

The president's directive has been met with mostly criticism from Republican lawmakers in Alabama. U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, called the action "federal overreach," while U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, said that the administration has "lost its minds."

Brown said he's not heard from one "single constituent" who supports Obama's "unconstitutional efforts to bypass Congress and rewrite federal law."

"I represent thoughts of parents, grandparents, educators and students who participate in our public education system," said Brown, who was appointed to the board last summer by Gov. Robert Bentley, and who will be replaced on the board by conservative Jackie Zeigler, wife of State Auditor Jim Zeigler.

"It is my job to protect the interests of my constituents," Brown added. "It is time to remind Obama that there are limits to his executive power and that he must respect those limits."

Brown's proposal has been met with scathing criticism from organizations like the Human Resource Campaign.

"School Board member Matthew Brown has shamefully decided to play politics with the lives of transgender students - and is also demonstrating his lack of knowledge about the law," said HRC spokesman Jay Brown in a statement. "Matthew Brown - or any state official who expresses similar resistance with complying with federal civil rights law - risks not only losing billions in federal funding but also risks the safety of students."

Matthew Brown said he doesn't believe Alabama risks losing federal funds because the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't weighed in on the issue. "Anyone who suggests that we are risking federal funding is ill-informed or attempting to coerce compliance through fear," he said.

Jay Brown said a federal court has already in Virginia has already ruled in favor of a transgender student. Matthew Brown said the decision, reached last month, is not binding on Alabama's federal courts.

'Legal backlash'

Lane Galbraith, a transgender man and U.S. Navy veteran from Mobile, said that if the state school board members and school systems throughout the state ignore the Obama guidelines, it will "create a legal backlash that the state of Alabama cannot afford."

"We think it is wise that school boards across Alabama have monitored the issue and have deferred the guidelines sent to school board attorneys for clarity," Galbraith said.

Of note, Galbraith added, is the state board's policies addressing bullying and

suicide prevention. Local districts, in many cases, have policies addressing bullying, but nothing specific on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

"It is well known that the school district policies are not inclusive to protection against bullying and harassment of LGBT students," said Galbraith, an activist for the LGBT community.

Galbraith said failing to follow the new federal directive will lead only to increases in bullying, harassment and discrimination against transgender students and those who identify as gay and lesbian.

Galbraith also cited statistics from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Network that found 59.2 percent of transgender students had been required to use a bathroom or locker room of their legal sex and that 42.2 percent had been prevented from using their preferred name.

Matthew Brown said that Alabama public schools do have "no-tolerance anti-bullying" policies. He said his proposal permits schools to install single-occupancy restrooms that can be used by either sex, and that "many schools already have these facilities in place."

Elsewhere in Alabama, the Oxford City Council generated some national attention after its members passed an ordinance establishing misdemeanor penalties for anyone using a public restroom opposite one's biological sex at birth. But the council, earlier this month, voted to rescind the ordinance.

State Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, has said that he plans to introduce restroom restrictions, although it's not clear when his bill could come up. Some lawmakers have urged Gov. Robert Bentley to call a special session this year, for the purposes of dealing with Medicaid woes and the BP spill settlement.

William Stewart, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Alabama, said that the state's political leadership likely prefers to stay out of new frays, for now. Bentley is battling the fallout of a scandal involving salacious recordings with his former political adviser, Rebekah Mason, while House Speaker Mike Hubbard is about to go on trial on allegations of corruption.

Said Stewart: "I think this issue is one on which Alabama will let other states, with whom we are in philosophical agreement with, take the lead."