Ky. bill targets transgender school-bathroom use

Chris Kenning | USA TODAY

LOUISVILLE — In a rebuke to a Louisville high school, a Kentucky lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would ban transgender students from using school restrooms that don't correspond to their anatomical sex.

The "Kentucky Student Privacy Act," proposed by State Sen. C.B. Embry Jr., R-Morgantown, also would allow students to sue the school for $2,500 when they encounter a person of the opposite biological sex in a bathroom or locker room if staff have allowed it or failed to prohibit it.

"Parents have a reasonable expectation that schools will not allow minor children to be viewed in various states of undress by members of the opposite biological sex," Embry wrote in Senate Bill 76, filed this month in the state's General Assembly.

The bill, backed by the Family Foundation of Kentucky, would allow transgender students to ask for special accommodations, such as a unisex bathroom.

It comes in direct response to a controversy last year in Louisville, where Atherton High School principal Thomas Aberli allowed a transgender student who was born male but identifies as a female to use the girls' bathrooms and locker rooms.

That prompted complaints from students and parents, who packed public forums along with those who supported the policy. Aberli stuck to his decision, which was backed by the school's council and a Jefferson County Public Schools appeals committee.

Aberli called the bill "disappointing" and said the policy had not been an issue at the school. He said the school also has a faculty restroom that any student can use.

"When people choose to use a special facility for any issue, that's accommodation. When you tell people they're not allowed to use a facility based on something that's protected by federal law, then that's discrimination," he said.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights last year issued guidance under its Title IX programs extending federal civil-rights protections to transgender students. It doesn't offer specific advice on the use of school facilities.

Chris Hartman, director of the Kentucky Fairness Campaign, called the bill "ludicrous" and argued that it violates Title IX. He said his group would lobby against it if it gains any traction.

Kentucky is not the only state to debate the issue. Last year, a Utah lawmaker proposed a bill that would have prevented transgender students from choosing which bathroom facilities they would use, according to The Associated Press.

California enacted a law last year that in part gave transgender students the right to use the bathroom of their gender identity. Attempts to overturn it have so far failed.

In 2014, Maine's Supreme Judicial Court ruled that school officials violated a state discrimination law by requiring a transgender student to use a staff restroom instead of one associated with the student's gender identity.

Kent Ostrander, director of the Family Foundation of Kentucky, said his group encouraged Embry to file the bill to establish privacy rights.

He said the threat of lawsuits — including recovering $2,500 for each encounter and more for psychological and emotional harm — would help ensure the law is followed if passed.

"Schools need to be sensitive to students who are conflicted with their gender. But they cannot throw out the personal right of privacy" for every other student, he said.

In an email, Embry said Monday that he'd received strong opinions on both sides. He said he wasn't sure whether the bill had enough support but said it was at least "meant to be the starting point of the discussion."

Kenning also reports for The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal.