Nicquel Terry

@NTerryAPP

A Lacey transgender teen who gave up his female identity last year has won a battle against his school to use the boys restroom.

Rubin Smyers, a junior at Ocean County Vocational Technical School's Performing Arts Academy, said he was granted access to the boys bathroom this month after school officials previously forced him to use a unisex facility.

Smyers protested the school's decision by creating a petition that spread through social media and gained the support of nearly 2,000 people.

"I'm definitely happy about it," said Smyers, 16. "But in a way, I almost wasn't as thrilled or excited as I expected to be. They were giving me permission for something I already had the right to do."

Smyers, born a girl, said he came out as a boy in 2013 and began using the boys bathroom at school that same year.

It wasn't until this past May that school officials raised an issue with the bathroom Smyers used. He said the staff was torn over whether he should use the girls or boys dressing room during the school's Spring Vocal Showcase at Ocean County Community College.

Smyers ultimately was instructed to use a unisex bathroom, secluded from his classmates, he said.

"That was just like an extra punch in the face," Smyers said "It was very, very isolating."

A guidance counselor later told Smyers the school preferred him to use the unisex or nurse's restroom, he said.

Smyers said he complied, but decided in October to start the petition and urge the school's administration to grant him access to the boys bathroom.

Jean Sullivan, communications director for Ocean County Vocational Technical School, did not immediately return a call or email for comment.

Garden State Equality, a statewide advocacy group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, supported Smyers and wrote a letter to the school indicating that Smyers' rights were being violated.

The organization says transgender people are protected by the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination that allows them to use the sex-specific bathroom they identify with.

"What Rubin did was he got the school to follow the law," said Andrea Bowen, executive director of Garden State Equality. "He applied pressure really smartly, he wasn't threatening about it, he scheduled meetings and got public support on his side. We are really celebrating his achievement."

Bowen said transgender students across the state and country are dealing with similar cases of schools that aren't receptive of their transition.

For example, Middletown school officials previously told a a 13-year-old transgender girl she had to return to Thorne Middle School as a boy. The district later changed its decision and agreed to make accommodations for the student.

Garden State Equality is working with schools to provide training on how to deal with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender youth, Bowen said. The organization also wants to ensure that schools honor state laws that protect transgender children such as Smyers.

"It's hard for the people to understand that you have to let transgender kids use the bathroom that they identify with," Bowen said.

Nicquel Terry; nterry@app.com; 732-643-4023