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No student should feel singled out at school for being different.

Unfortunately, some members of the Tennessee House of Representatives appear willing to single out students across the state for discrimination. On April 5, lawmakers will consider reviving a bill that would bar transgender students from using the appropriate restroom.

If the bill becomes law, students would be allowed to use only the bathroom that matches the gender identity on their birth certificate. Any transgender student attending a public grade school or state college or university would be affected.

This legislation is misguided and simply wrong. As a Tennessean, I know we can do better.

Everyone has a gender identity, but it does not always match the sex on a person's birth certificate. And, contrary to what some may say, it's not a ruse to sneak into the other restroom. Gender identity is a deeply felt sense of who you are as a person. And many transgender people begin to identify as another gender when they are very young.

Transgender children don't deserve to be stigmatized and targeted by legislators who exploit fear and prejudice.

However, that is exactly what this bill would do to students across the state. If our lawmakers are willing to single out students from grade school to college, it's hard to believe that others won't follow their example: classroom bullies, teachers and anyone else — inside or outside of school — who believes transgender people don't deserve the same rights as others.

There are other consequences that come from legislating bathroom access for an entire state. Students will fast, dehydrate themselves and avoid the restroom all day to avoid the attention and harassment that might come from complying with this law.

Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit on behalf of a transgender student in Virginia whose school prohibits him from using the restroom that matches his gender identity. Working with other LGBT organizations, we compiled examples of the real-world effects of such policies. They included a transgender boy who avoided using the school restroom for three years. Another transgender youth developed a weak bladder from avoiding the school restroom. A 17-year-old transgender girl dropped out of school because of issues surrounding her gender.

The harm is clear. The need for this bill, however, isn't so clear.

One only needs to look at schools that allow students to use the restroom matching their gender identity. An official from the second-largest school district in the country — the Los Angeles Unified School District — reported that there have been no problems in the 10 years since the school district adopted its policy permitting transgender students to use the restroom and locker room that matches their gender identity. That's a compelling case from a school district with 732,000 students.

Closer to Tennessee, a high school principal in Louisville, Kentucky, has reported no problems with a similar policy at a school of 1,300 students. Quite simply, the dangers this bill is supposed to address are unfounded.

Even Gov. Bill Haslam has voiced his worries about this bill potentially endangering federal funding. His concern is warranted. A revised fiscal note explaining that the federal government may withhold federal education funding has been attached to the bill. Furthermore, recent rulings have shown that transgender youths are protected from discrimination based on their gender identity by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of l972.

In other words, this bill puts the state at risk of costly litigation.

Tennessee schools should be open and welcoming places for all students. Our leaders should oppose any effort that could subject students to discrimination, psychological or even physical harm. The state benefits only when our schools nurture and respect all students.

Rick Mula is an attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center where he is an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by the Mansfield Family Foundation.