“If we have a transgender student on a Waco ISD campus, we work with that child and their parents and address any concerns or questions on an individual basis,” Waco ISD spokesperson Bruce Gietzen said. “We will continue that practice, which to this point has been very successful at meeting the needs of all our students.”

‘Separate but equal’

“It seems like there are individuals who do feel uncomfortable using certain restrooms, and so they’re kind of telling them they have an option to use a restroom that is in the nurse’s office or some alternative restroom that is single-stalled so they can use the restroom by themselves to feel safe,” Hall said. “My problem with that is, it’s separate but equal. That defeats the purpose, and they should be able to use the restroom of the gender they identify with. If I was a trans student and someone said, ‘So you don’t feel comfortable using those restrooms with the gender that’s on your birth certificate? You can use this restroom,’ it would make me feel like a freak or like I didn’t deserve to use the public accommodations everyone else does.”