ah! the first time my hometown gets represented on feministing it's this? so very sad and disappointing...

I have to side with the parents on this one. This teachers 'gender reassignment' will inevitably confuse a lot of children. These parents might not feel comfortable explaining such a complex situation to a young child. Parental decisions should not be dictated by political correctness or fear of backlash from the victim industry.

I'll never understand the amount of fear people have when it comes to things that aren't in a rigid binary.

WHAT is so fucking scary, people?

Too effing bad, Anthony. If you don't want to have to explain complicated situations to children, don't reproduce. Because life *is* complicated, and that's your job as a parent.

My kids had a transwoman babysitter as toddlers (about 2 and 4). They had no problem understanding, "Traycey was born with a boy body but always felt like a girl inside. Now she has doctors helping her to make her body look like what she thought she should have had." They accepted and treated her as a girl with no problems.

What is so fracking hard to explain there?

Anthony, I sort of understand what you're saying, because it's certainly true that this conversation might need a little preparation for some kids. But the teacher is question is a music teacher, right? To me, that would indicate these students are grade six, seven, eight. Kids that age should be receiving sex ed sometimes soon anyway. (Do California laws permit sex ed? I don't know. I live in Canada, where everyone gets sex ed.)

Parents should be able to talk about sex changes with preteens. They're old enough. And even if the kids were younger, I would say it's not the school's place to get involved. I guess if the teacher agreed to it in advance, it could be smart to organize a parent's meeting where they discuss the best way to talk to their kids about it. But only with his permission.

First off, children are almost always in a constant state of confusion. It's part of the learning process. To try and prevent a child from ever getting confused is an attempt to raise a child without any education.
As far as this being a "complex" issue goes; well it's a fairly simple explanation with a lot of different ways to explain this.

The person didn't see themselves as society saw them. Now society and their own perspective are the same.

Or you could try to combine religion and acceptance: "This was God's plan." Hey, people use this sentence to write off most things they don't want to explain to kids, so it seems pretty useful here too.

Or if you are of a close minded religious persuasion: "They are an abomination and they and the doctor will both be going to hell, but you still have to treat them with respect and do your homework."

The idea is getting rather old that if you do something in the name of children, then it has to be good. Invading the privacy of an individual would not be "protecting" children, it would be trying to make intellectually stunted, overly judgmental, sensitive-to-anything-that-doesn't-fit-their-narrow-world-view parents happy.

So, Anthony, does that mean if a teacher is black and the parents are racist, they can demand a new white teacher? I'm sure kids might be confused, but what better situation to then teach them of diversity?

People people people- the man used the phrases "politically correct" and "victim industry", and not for irony's sake. Don't bother.

Anthony: Perhaps the appropriate course of action for these parents would be to use this as an example to illustrate the value of tolerance and accepting people that might be Different from You. If they really are that intolerant and feel that uncomfortable talking about gender reassignment surgery, they could always gloss it over by saying "Ms. So-and-so moved away and was replaced by her brother".

And what is this "victim industry" you're referring to? This poor person is being treated as a pariah, as if he were somehow dangerous, because of who he is. All he's ever done is try to become comfortable in his own skin, and they're treating it like they just found out he's a sex offender. Chances are this will have a very negative impact on his career. As long as your kid's teacher is an ethical person, is good at their job and has no intentions of hurting your kids or pulling them into any illegal activity, then they should be left alone. The details of their private life are no one else's business.

The bottom line is: here in America, it is illegal to disclose someone's medical history to a third party. Gender reassignment surgery is part of his medical history, and the school would have faced serious fines and liability if they had told the parents. As well they should.

Nicole, I had a music teacher from kindergarden on up, actually.

But that's beside the point, because parents who don't want to explain things to their kids don't want to because they're not comfortable themselves. Kids are pretty accepting of things - they don't have the biases and established beliefs that adults do. If you raise them saying, "Sometimes people don't feel like their feelings match how the look on the outside, and so they change their outside to match their feelings" they're not going to be CONFUSED, they're just going to grow up knowing, hey, sometimes people change themselves, big deal.

I mean, we tell them about Santa and they're not sitting around getting terribly confused about the logistics of traveling the world in one night.

You often hear the "it's uncomfortable to explain it to kids" argument. Two responses:
1. That's not a sufficient reason to curb another person's civil rights.
2. I find it uncomfortable to explain hate and bigotry to my kids, but I have to do it anyway.

Next, parents don't get to choose their teacher's gender under ordinary circumstances, so why should it be different simply because the teacher is transgendered?

I left out words and letters in that comment, hopefully I got my point across without sounding like a moron.

"If you don't want to have to explain complicated situations to children, don't reproduce. Because life *is* complicated, and that's your job as a parent" [bifemmefatale]

If mom and dad feel these children are too young to learn about such issues, than I respect their decision as parents. In Fact, I'll go as far as saying I don't see how a seven or eight year can even comprehend this situation. This scenario is far more advanced than the basic sex ed. kids learn in health class. Prepubescent kids have very little concept of their own sexuality -- this case is too confusing. That's why I think the parents are pissed. Their almost forced to discuss the 'birds and the bee's' at an age or time they feel might be inappropriate. They know the maturity level of their kids better than anyone else.

If they feel they should've been informed by the school itself because it is their "right" to know, then that's pure stupidity. If they truly believe in the rights of this country, they should respect the teacher's rights to privacy. The teacher's surgery should not be tossed about in a negative way. It shouldn't even be spoken about unless the TEACHER wanted it to be. The parents have absolutely no right to publicize it. And talk about ignorance. Why would any parent want to teach their child to hate someone based on something like that? I always thought parents were supposed to teach them to treat others with respect and such n such...
Truly, if I had children who had a transgender teacher, I wouldn't mind. The thing I would truly mind is whether or not they are learning something and are being well respected.

FAIL, Anthony. Gender does not equal sexuality. The birds and the bees have nothing to do with it. This is identity, not reproduction. And as I said, I explained it to a 2 and a 4 year old and they comprhended it. It was easy and did not involve sexual intercourse at all.

As others pointed out, patient privacy laws prohibit the school from disclosing health info on teachers without their consent.

In the perfect world in my head, the school would have predicted this response and prevented it.

They would have hosted a discussion with the parents at the school discussing transgender issues, gender re-assignment surgery, the school legal obligations, and what the school's policy is on these things. Parents would have had a chance to ask their questions and voice their concerns. And while some would have probably still freaked out, others provided with information probably would have been okay. Parents would have had chance to discuss with their children prior to school starting or pulled their kids out of the classes if they so desired.

OMG! Children are too young? I have news for you. The minute children start to comprehend language, they can comprehend a hell of a lot. I'm sick and tired of treating children like they're too stupid to understand anything. Children are smart, really smart. And if you don't tell them something, they'll try to figure it out. And since it was exposed (which they had no right to do) parents have to explain it. It's out there now. Children unable to comprehend. Give me a break.

I agree with Zeeba. Especially since this was a multiage teacher, some of the students had him last year and were probably confused and surprised to walk into the classroom this year. If the parents had been told beforehand, they woud have had a chance to discuss the issue with their children, help empathy in the kids, and talk about appropriate behaviors and responses in a situation that is probably unfamiliar and possibly scary to the average 6-year old.

At this age, the kids probably had questions about how the change happened (did he just wake up that way? will it happen to me? did he want the doctor to do it? can he change back?). Forcing young kids to deal with these questions and fears through the day was cruel when it could have been prevented by a preemptive, honest talk before the school year.

Hmmm...this is making me realize I haven't addressed transgender with my kids yet. I think they'll probably take it with as much confusion as they did when I explained homosexuality in the context of explaining the gay marriage issue. Their reaction:

Oh, OK.
(pause)
So, why would anyone think they shouldn't get married? That's dumb.

Kids' minds are little sponges. It will only be confusing if they've already soaked up a lot of hateful attitudes.

'FAIL, Anthony. Gender does not equal sexuality. The birds and the bees have nothing to do with it. This is identity, not reproduction' [bifemmefatale]

The Birds and the Bees have everything to do with this. Properly explaining this situation would necessitate a discussion on genitalia. Kids are curious and might want know why their teacher uses the men's room, when last year she used the ladies room. While identity might be the overwhelming theme, one question leads to another, and before you know it, its a full blown sex education discussion.

Here's a little tune you might enjoy:

"Here she comes, you better watch your step
She's going to break your heart in two, it's true
It's not hard to realize
Just look into her false colored eyes
She builds you up to just put you down, what a clown"

--Femme Fatale [The Velvet Underground]

>I mean, we tell them about Santa and they're not sitting around getting terribly confused about the logistics of traveling the world in one night.

Some of us were, but we didn't believe in Santa for very long ;-). But your point still stands.

anthony:

Umm, I'd imagine that children in school know the difference between boys and girls. They live and go to school with each other every single day. The vast majority also likely live with their mother AND father, so they know firsthand that there are differences between the sexes. It's not THAT difficult to explain, and it doesn't require you to know intimate details about sexuality.

Explaining that someone has changed their assigned gender is very simple and easy to explain. Children may not understand WHY someone has gone that route, but most non-trans people don't understand.

The teacher

Terebithia, I blindly accepted it all until Santa wrote me a letter in my dad's handwriting. I clearly was not a child with major critical thinking skills. :D

So should parents be informed if their child's teacher is gay and getting married to their same sex partner, or a single pregnant mother, or getting noticeable breast enhancement/reduction, or any thing else that would cause children to ask them questions about gender and/or sexuality. Are teachers no longer allowed to make personal decisions without them being passed through the community for approval?

We have several transpeople at our church, and my daughter has had questions about whether an individual was male or female. I explained in a way that my child could understand (for her age and level of understanding) what it means for a person to be transgender. It wasn't confusing. It wasn't scary.

Things I didn't want to have to explain to my kids that I shouldn't have:
- "God Hates Fags"
- A monkey with an Obama sticker on his head
- Waterboard Obama
- The meaning of the n-word, the f-word, and why it's okay for daddy to use something called a dike, but it is rude to call another person that.
- Truck nuts (or whatever the hell they are called)
-

Hi Anthony,

Just wanted to chime in: i've actually known a lot of children from toddlers to grade school to high-schoolers process someone they know coming out as transsexual or transgender, and *overwhelmingly* the children have had a very easy time understanding what is going on.

Depending on the situation, there is always an age-appropriate way to discuss these things, and they do not need to involve discussion of genitals. In fact, quite often if its better to NOT discuss genitals -- after all, the point is that the teacher/friend/neighbor/uncle/whatever is a boy or a girl (something almost all kids understand!) not what is or was between their legs!!

It's not the greatest film in the world, but you might find the short documentary "No Dumb Questions" to be of interest.

Teachers have a very unique position in the community, for better and worse. Personally, I think parents should be empowered to make educational choices for their children, including having choices of the teachers. After all, the parents are ultimately responsible for the upbringing of their kids.

OK, the parents should have been notified one way or the other (whether in advance or after the fact or whatever) so that they have the opportunity to explain to their kids what being transgendered means.

It IS confusing, and the situation does lend itself to rampant gossip, malicious rumors, and misinformation. At the very least I would think a counselor or other teacher should explain transgendered individuals to the students. And as parents have a right to know what their kids are being exposed to and taught, a notification of said information session is totally in order.

Those of you suggesting the pre-emptive meeting with parents are conveniently ignoring one crucial fact: the school absolutely cannot do that without the teacher's consent/participation. If the teacher did not disclose the information - and I haven't studied this case, so I don't know the details - the school did right; because they had no right whatsoever to announce it. A person's medical history and private life are PRIVATE (imagine that!).

Children have an extraordinary grasp of life's issues. They only become confused when adults overanalyze everything and start running off at the mouth with way more details than are necessary. Anthony clearly has no children.

Children are not born into sterilized biodomes. They are born into the world. That established, why shouldn't they learn about the world, and what has no reason to frighten them? It's not scary until the ideology has gestated in your brain.

The parents are obviously afraid that their children will realized that transgendered people are human beings, and don't feel their own children deserve the privilege of learning about life.

Adding to my previous comment:

Those of you who are suggesting that the school should have notified the parents in any way, shape, or form, you need to open Google and do a search for "HIPAA" aka the the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Seriously. The school isn't even allowed to ask this teacher about any medical procedures he may have had, let alone inform the parents.

y'all, anthony's right. we don't want to introduce children to anything that might be confusing or scary. So we also need to prohibit old or sick teachers, because they might die and then we would have to explain death. We also can't have married teachers, because they might get divorced and we would to explain the concept of love running out. And NO adopted teachers, because then we would have to discuss why a parent might give away their kid. TOO SCARY!!!

Teachers have a very unique position in the community, for better and worse. Personally, I think parents should be empowered to make educational choices for their children, including having choices of the teachers. After all, the parents are ultimately responsible for the upbringing of their kids.

Are you suggesting that teacher’s shouldn’t be afforded the same right to privacy as every other citizen? If they don't like what the PUBLIC SCHOOL has to offer, than they can certainly take their child out of the school. But, no, they do not get have "choices of teachers" that just isn't feasible when offering a free, public education. If they want that right, they can start paying for their child to go to a private school or they can homeschool. Those are their choices.

Well, this is depressing. I'm with you, Ms.Meghan...I'm not from Vacaville, I'm from Fairfield, but still. It had to be something like this gets us in the news.

The whole situation is just depressing as hell. Way to reinforce the idea that transgender people just don't deserve the same rights of privacy and respect as the rest of us do. Didn't want their children "exposed" to a transgender person, as if it were contagious or something. Seriously. Children aren't natural bigots. If you'd choke down your irrational transfear and hatred for a few minutes, you'd discover that a simple explanation like other people here have enumerated would thoroughly unconfuse the children and they'd be fine with it.

I remember my father explaining "gay" to me when I was around eight or so. He was reading the newspaper and made some horrible comment about "those fucking gays" and I asked him who they were, because the only context I had for the word "gay" was "happy", and I didn't understand why he'd be mad at happy people. So he explained what "gay" meant, and I said. "Oh. So what?" And ran off to play.

This makes me really sad and scared. I'm still in college so I haven't yet had to navigate the professional world within my genderqueer identity or body, but I've thought about wanting to be a teacher and would find it so painful to have kids taken out of my classes because of my gender. I echo a lot of the folks above in saying that I've talked to lots of kids about gender and their brains are quick at absorbing complicated and new ideas -- parents pulling their kids out of class definitely reflects the parents' transphobia, and not any founded concern for their kids or for having those difficult conversations.

But, no, they do not get have "choices of teachers" that just isn't feasible when offering a free, public education.

First of all, education is not free. Sure, I don't write a check to the school, but I do write a huge check via my property taxes.

If I think the teacher is inappropriate for my children, I will certainly raise a stink.

So this is kind of off-topic, kind of not, but this is an issue that's been nagging at me for awhile now and I wanted to get a few other people's thoughts.

I have no problem with transgender people. Had a teacher who was transgender, see no problem with it, etc.

Recently, however, a new thought occurred to me. As feminists we generally try to push past society's expectations of what a man or woman should act like. For most of my life I haven't been what I'd call traditionally "girly" although that has changed in recent years. But here's my point - when a person changes gender and becomes a man or a woman, they tend to live very much according to the stereotype our society has of what a proper "man" or "woman" is. For instance, in Transamerica - Felicity Huffman's character is more obsessively girly and into stereotypically feminine things than I ever will be. This bugs me not because it makes me feel less like a real woman but because my entire life I've fought for the right to feel that being a woman doesn't define who I am or what I can do in my life.

Am I making sense/being clear here? That's just an interesting thing to think about to me. Especially since the other day in my GWS class people were ridiculing the ideas that estrogen and testosterone might actually affect behavior and I pointed out that transgender people take hormones to BECOME the opposite gender, so therefore they obviously do have quite an effect. I guess it just makes me feel like there's less gender fluidity than I thought? Which is a huge disappointment...Again, all thoughts are welcome, I'm not looking for an argument or anything, just discourse and thoughts... :)

"If I think the teacher is inappropriate for my children, I will certainly raise a stink."

And how exactly is a transgender teacher inappropriate? Should a person be forced out of teaching because of personal decisions that they make (not counting things that do make them actually dangerous, like an addiction where they show up to school and high and bring drugs with them or child molestation) that have no bearing on their teaching ability? Can parents decide that their children shouldn't be taught by a teacher who is Muslim or Hindu or Aethiest or gay or black or blah blah blah not white/straight/Christian?

"If I think the teacher is inappropriate for my children, I will certainly raise a stink. "

I think it's appropriate to raise a stink in some cases. However, this is not one of those cases. The only reason to "make a stink" about a transgendered teacher is because of bigotry and hate, not because the teacher is doing anything inappropriate. BEING TRANS IS NOT BEING INAPPRPRIATE. EVER. Thinking otherwise is wrong.

I just remembered that a few years ago my brother's teacher - a single woman - got pregnant. And all the kids were confused because she wasn't married. And when one kid asked how she could be pregnant if she wasn't married to her boyfriend, she said, "Oh, go ask your parents about it!" And the parents were outraged.

Hehe, you guys actually think transgender people stand a chance... (lol I am TOTALLY on your side on this but look at how fucking ridiculous people are!!! God forbid they have to admit single women can make babies too...)

@thegecko

I work in a medical records office for a hospital. The rules on releasing medical information are so strict that not only could the school have been fined (which would come out of everyone's taxes), but the people who receive the information could be sued if the teacher had chosen to do so.

The procedures for getting health information are getting more and more strict. This isn't something to broadcast to all the parents.

BTW Anthony? You're a moron, and likely a homophobe. Grow up and learn some diversity wouldja please?

This just makes me sad. I wonder what the parents told their kids when they asked them why they didn't have music class anymore. "Well, your teacher used to be a lady and now she's a man. We don't want you to be around him, he's a weirdo/dangerous/going to hell, etc. That to me is more damaging for the kids to hear than anything.

On a lighter note, contrast that to my 11 year old's middle school, which has a Gay/Straight Alliance with weekly meetings. My daughter joined unbeknownst to me, which honestly did take me aback for a moment and made me do some hard assessment of my own preconceptions. Yesterday she came home and told me she and a friend made a poster of "How to relate to transgender people" or something similar. Maybe her group should do a presentation in Vacaville.

This reminds me of an argument I was having with the Assistant Dean a couple weeks ago. Some dad brought a lawsuit to the school district for sending his kid home with a picture book that related to queer issues. The Assistant Dean thought the suit was silly, but did have beef with the school "springing that on the parents, like, bam. They should have at least been warned."

And I replied, "Do you get equally upset when schools spring racism awareness on the parents, like, bam?"

There's a reason kids go to school instead of just learning at home: parents don't know everything. Parents can't show their kids the different perspectives necessary for those kids to grow up to make their own choices. That's why schools even have their own sex ed classes--some folks still rail on about how that should be a family issue, but there are enough parents who just don't address it, or address it in really unhealthy ways, and that's why it's the school's responsibility.

I don't have a problem with parents contributing ideas for curricula, but no social issue should be up for a vote by parents. There are still too many racist, homophobic, classist, privileged moms and dads out there for a system like that to ever benefit our youth.

School is there to challenge your child. To present issues that won't be encountered at home. In fact, it's probably more important a purpose than lots of the actual book learning.

If parents are so fucking sensitive about what their kids are experiencing, they should be homeschooling, because they obviously have a problem with the whole point of the public school system.

(Not to mention that, yeah, like everyone said, the school is not legally allowed to "warn" parents, so this should be a complete non-issue.)

Hi Liz M.

I think your example of the pregnant, single teacher is definately a good example of why schools should stand by protecting the privacy of teacher's lives and health choices, even if they are potentially controversial!

Regarding your earlier question, *please please please* don't base your opinion of transgender people from main stream movies like TransAmerica!! Such movies really aren't all that accurate in a number of ways!

In reality, trans people are just as likely to challenge traditional gender roles as their non-transgender peers. Seriously, name me any silly old stereotype of women and i bet i can think of a number of transgender women i know *personally* who challenge that stereotype! I know trans women who are take-charge leadership types, who are sporty, who are butches, who are mechanically/mathematically inclined just to name a few silly stereotypes people have about what women can't or shouldn't do! If you haven't already, i highly recommend "Whipping Girl" by Julia Serano (i know, it took me a while to get past the title to what is actually a wonderful book!)

Really, i think at the core of the "transgender rights" movement is asking for basic respect for who we all actually are. Not forcing ourselves to conform to some oversimplified view of what others think we should be. In my mind that is VERY much a part of feminism as well!

The rules on releasing medical information are so strict that not only could the school have been fined (which would come out of everyone's taxes), but the people who receive the information could be sued if the teacher had chosen to do so.

The procedures for getting health information are getting more and more strict. This isn't something to broadcast to all the parents.

Exactly, Jennilee. My first contact with HIPAA was a year ago when my lab at the grad school got ahold of some MRSA strains taken from patients at the local VA hospital. Even those of us who weren't going to be handling the bacteria had to take the online course and exam and then practically sign our lives away and present our firstborn children as collateral. And we didn't even get any identifying information regarding these patients, just ID numbers.

HIPAA violations are serious business; in addition to the potential for lawsuits, there can be heavy fines, as in $10,000+.

Liz M, to your comment at 6:01 - transgendered people do NOT all live according to the extreme precepts of masculinity or femininity. I, too, am a woman who has pushed to have a lot of my "masculine" aspects accepted throughout my life, and I doubt the situation is any different for my MTF friend who commiserates with me about our supposed tomboyishness all the time.

To your comment at 6:13, I was actually thinking about the days back when only single women could be teachers because they were afraid that if a married woman was pregnant in front of a group of schoolchildren, the children would want to know what caused pregnancy. Sad to see that only the particulars have changed, not the attitudes that contribute to rules like that.

Also, to those defending the parents' right to know, the parents do know now and have pulled their kids out of the class. I seriously doubt their reaction would have been any different if they had known beforehand, and I'm not sure why their rights are even part of the picture when they have practiced those rights by pulling their kids out of the class.

Liz M:

I agree with what zerk said regarding the diversity in the transgender community. I'm a transwoman, and I'm geeky, into computers and technical stuff, etc., in ways that a lot of women I know aren't. Of course, I'm somewhat girly as well, but that's how I've always been, and that's how I'm most comfortable. Sometimes it doesn't seem to fit together according to gender stereotypes, but it's who I am. I know other transwomen who are 180 degrees from me. It's really just about who we are. As far as I'm aware, feminism doesn't seek to make it so women can't behave as they please, but rather that society doesn't expect us to behave in a specific way.

By the way, just a note for those who may not be aware, but it's usually "transgender", not "transgendered". It's an adjective, not a verb. Sorry to be picky, but I thought I'd speak up. :)

Sigh, hate to bring the bearer of bad news but... for those who responded with a "you wouldn't pull your kid out of a class over racism" comparisons, don't be so sure!

Even when i was in elementary school down in Southern California, i remember learning some Spanish phrases in class and some parents were *really upset* their kids were, well, being given a multi-cultural curriculum! It was very much that "I'm an American and my kids are gonna speak *English* in school and learn about American ways!" (ie, white stuff) kinda attitude that has only increased in this day and age! I don't know anyone who got pulled out of class over it, but i know at least one parent who considered it!

So yeah, parents can be pretty racist too, and give teachers some real grief over it!

Jennilee writes: 'Homophobe?'

If you actually read my comments you'll see my only issue is my support for a parents choice to decide whats appropriate to teach their kids. I never condemned his/her decision to change gender.

Damn, that homophobia term is used so loosely. If someone doesn't agree fully with another persons opinion on homosexuality/transgender, than they must be ignorant and scared of another individuals sexual choice. Nothing more than a hate monger, right?

I'll say it again, its the parents CHOICE what they teach their kids, and who they deem qualified to interact with their children. If mom wants to pull her child from that class, its her right! Its obviously your right to criticise mom and dad, but I doubt they give a rats ass.

Anthony: you are right that the parents can pull their kids out of a class or school even, if they don't like the school or teachers. But, as someone already mentioned, what if the parents were racist? Do you think the school should send out a letter to all parents to let them know that someone of a different race/religion will be teaching their children, in case they want to pull their kids out? If there was a news article about the racist parents, it would be condemning the parents for being so bigoted. There may even be some sexist parents out there who don't think a woman could properly teach their children science or something crazy like that, but those parents wouldn't get any sympathy or probably want media attention.

The reason it is 'ok' by a lot of people that these parents are mad about the transgender teacher, is that a lot of people are still bigoted and hateful toward transgender people. That hate and fear is what makes them feel they have a 'right' to know if one of 'those people' are teaching their children.

Anthony, no one is saying that the parent's don't have a RIGHT to take their child out of a class. Duh, they can do that for any reason. What people are saying here is that to do it because they are afraid of discussing transgender people with their children is a stupid reason.

Additionally, while it may be their right to remove the children, they don't have a *right* to an alternative in the public school. Some schools only have one teacher for each class. And if your child is not going to complete the state-required curriculum, then YOU have to figure out how to make it up- whether through home schooling or private school.

I would love to have a diverse group of teachers at my future children's school so they can learn about other kinds of people and lifestyles early and avoid as many stereotypical thoughts as possible. Wouldn't that be nice?

"Recently, however, a new thought occurred to me. As feminists we generally try to push past society's expectations of what a man or woman should act like. For most of my life I haven't been what I'd call traditionally "girly" although that has changed in recent years. But here's my point - when a person changes gender and becomes a man or a woman, they tend to live very much according to the stereotype our society has of what a proper "man" or "woman" is. For instance, in Transamerica - Felicity Huffman's character is more obsessively girly and into stereotypically feminine things than I ever will be. This bugs me not because it makes me feel less like a real woman but because my entire life I've fought for the right to feel that being a woman doesn't define who I am or what I can do in my life."

Well, Liz M, that's because it's a movie, and a bad one at that.

First of all, one of the big misconceptions is that ANYBODY who is trans is essentially, at birth, the gender of their genitals, and it is only later in life BECOME trans and the other gender. Totally not true.

Secondly, there is a big generational gap between transpeople. Because the US was even more gender-binary in the past than today, it is not illogical that these older people have picked up these older customs.

I'm a transwoman myself (I just turned 22), and I do identify with a lot of the genderqueer identity, though I do want to be recognized as female. There definitely is a LOT of pressure to conform to cultural female gender norms, but I'm too much of a feminist and tomboy to do that. My friend, an older transwoman, was shocked that I got a boycut haircut recently. I mean, seriously? I can and will do anything a cisgendered woman can do if it is what I want to do, if it is what I feel comfortable with. A lot of my younger trans friends seem to have the same attitude.

Maybe the thing to do for schools is to have a booklet, workshop, discussion etc that discusses these issues in terms of a teacher's right to privacy, the school legal obligation, and parents rights.

And by these issues I mean everything we have brought up... pregnancy, marriage/divorce, non-hetero relationships, and transgender issues. All the personal choices of teachers that would visible to their students. I think if parents better understood what their school can and can not do then perhaps some of this "outrage" could be dampened and some space could be made for an informed discussion.

If the teacher had started at the school after the operation (so had been male the whole time he was teaching at the school), then I don't think that there is any obligation for the parents to be told.

I agree that the school really shouldn't have acted on this, because it's something that has to do with another human being's right to privacy - but had I been that teacher, I would have assumed that there would be confusion/question around the fact that I had changed genders (at least in the eye's of the children) in the course of a year.

I think that this teacher missed an opportunity to educate and inform the students/parents. Once again, I agree that it's not the school's job and I would be peeved about any talk of forced announcement of such a thing - if the teacher would have brought this up himself, he could have ended the confusion and talked with the parents. If the parents decided to pull their kids out of his class, it would have been 100% their bad (they couldn't blame it on the feeling of being kept in the dark about something).

This is not a shameful way to live life, and as such, I think that being honest and open about it is a proper course of action...and doing so would really set an example for those kids and make them aware that this is not a shameful thing, but it is an *unusual* thing for them to have experienced at this point in their life, so let's talk about it.

If the teacher had started at the school after the operation (so had been male the whole time he was teaching at the school), then I don't think that there is any obligation for the parents to be told.

I agree that the school really shouldn't have acted on this, because it's something that has to do with another human being's right to privacy - but had I been that teacher, I would have assumed that there would be confusion/question around the fact that I had changed genders (at least in the eye's of the children) in the course of a year.

I think that this teacher missed an opportunity to educate and inform the students/parents. Once again, I agree that it's not the school's job and I would be peeved about any talk of forced announcement of such a thing - if the teacher would have brought this up himself, he could have ended the confusion and talked with the parents. If the parents decided to pull their kids out of his class, it would have been 100% their bad (they couldn't blame it on the feeling of being kept in the dark about something).

This is not a shameful way to live life, and as such, I think that being honest and open about it is a proper course of action...and doing so would really set an example for those kids and make them aware that this is not a shameful thing, but it is an *unusual* thing for them to have experienced at this point in their life, so let's talk about it.

What I don't understand is why gender is seen as SO defining that people feel like their rights have been violated when someone else changes gender. Parents wouldn't complain if she had changed her hair color, lost/gained a lot of weight, changed her name because of marriage, gotten plastic surgery to change her appearance (but still looked female).

This person was "female" and now is "male." SO WHAT? Why does that matter so much? He is still the same person. What actually has changed? Appearance? Pronouns?

But gender is so limiting/defining. We have divided people into group A and group B- somewhat arbitrarily- because of some (generalized) physical differences.

This is one good reason to distablish gender.

Try teaching kids in Korea. EVERYTHING is that complicated once the parents get through with it. Jesus Christ, you wish more American parents would give a damn about their kids' education and then you go somewhere they care about nothing else.

What I don't understand is why gender is seen as SO defining that people feel like their rights have been violated when someone else changes gender.
Posted by Emolee Author Profile Page | October 17, 2008 12:23 AM

I don't understand why someone would feel attacked by someone else's sex change, that's insanity. But gender is the most basic division between people. There's nothing really much different, biologically, between black men and white men and Asian men, etc. but there are genuine and obvious differences between men and women. That's why the Adam and Eve story still resonates. Obviously, real life doesn't fit into categories 100% of the time, and so there are people born to defy these categories and thus the simplistic conception breaks down. But while you're waiting for a child, do you wonder about eye color first or do you wonder if he'll be a boy or she'll be a girl?

I agree that most people will wonder about the sex of their baby before anything else. The number one thing noticed about people is gender. The first thing we fill out on a form after our name is our gender. You cannot even write a sentence without thinking of his or her. People get very uncomfortable if they can't tell whether soemone is male or female. So, I agree that society IS this way.

I don't agree that it SHOULD be this way. There are biological differences in body parts between males and females, and there are generalized biological differences that extend beyond body parts. However, I think many of these differences are due to social construction.

Moreover, so long as we see gender as so central, it allows for polarized gender roles and stereotyping. This kind of "gender purity" usually leads to oppression of women, as well as GLBT people.

Emolee,
I agree. As I said, it's insane to view someone else's change as an assault on yourself. The story begins with Adam and Eve, it doesn't end with them.

If the teacher wanted to make the change in his private life part of class discussion then he should be welcome do to so within the bounds placed on such discussions (I remember teachers telling us about getting married, divorced, having a baby, death in the family, and even miscarriage) and in an age-appropriate manner. Really I don't understand the fears about children questioning him about his genitalia. Kids sometimes ask genital-related questions in class. Sometimes its appropriate to answer them, but if it isn't then the child should just be told that it isn't an appropriate question for class, but if they still have questions later they can talk to the school nurse or counselor, then back to the lesson at hand.

However, the teacher isn't duty-bound as a teacher or as a transman to explain his transition or any part of his private life to his students or their parents. If he wishes to say only that he is to be addressed as Mr. Teacher, he, and/or sir at the beginning of class and then go right into scales and square-dancing, it is perfectly within his legal and moral rights to do so.

Too often the onus is placed upon the trans / queer / minority / disabled / pregnant / foreign / etc. individual to teach the masses rather than upon the masses to seek teaching, and too often the masses take the "failure" of the individual to hold up the side of the "bargain" that's been imposed upon them as a negative reflection of the individual and the group they belong to rather than a failure of the masses themselves.

"I didn't have the choice!"

When do people ever really have the choice concerning teachers? It's not like they send a list out to the parents so they can choose what classes they'll let their kids attend based on the profiles of the instructors.

I've had so many crappy teachers in my life, and there was nothing I or my parents could do about it. Heck, generally the response is to just deal with that teacher. Maybe s/he's turn out good in the end/that "bad" quality will be a saving grace, etc. Oh, wait.

Sure, if it comes to, you know, teaching you just deal with it, but when it comes to something about the teacher's personal life? Oh, no! Our rights were violated by the person's existence! Why didn't we have a choice?

To Anthony et al,
I can understand how difficult it can be, having your children learn about the diversity and commitment to freedom of our society and its many "complicated" byproducts. I can understand that the openness of our society can lead to unfortunately complicated conversations with your children.

On that note, you are welcome to leave anytime. If the realities of freedom and diversity are too "complex" for you, you are free to move to another country where the undesirables are prevented from being visible. In such a country, you wouldn't have to explain a transgender or queer teacher because there wouldn't be any.

If you wish to live here in America though, with our long history of diversity and personal freedoms, you'll have to deal with having to have "awkward" conversations with your child. And that's your choice. Good luck.

On a serious note, I'm so sick of the "for the children" thing. There's no good reason and it often impacts the education of the rest of the class. If people don't want diversity, don't want certain topics mentioned, etc... they can go somewhere else. Get an education somewhere else. I'll happily even give them their tax dollars back for public education if they promise to leave the school every time they try and be bigoted idjits.

On the same note, I'd personally like my tax dollars back for the war and the corporate welfare that I didn't ask for as well.

"Damn, that homophobia term is used so loosely. If someone doesn't agree fully with another persons opinion on homosexuality/transgender, than they must be ignorant and scared of another individuals sexual choice. Nothing more than a hate monger, right?"

Anthony? IT IS NOT A CHOICE FOR THESE PEOPLE. The fact that you think it is a choice just goes to show that YOU are likely bigoted and transphobic and possibly homophobic.

And yes, if someone doesn't "agree" with how someone was BORN, then they are, indeed, homophobic, or transphobic, and certainly bigoted. PERIOD.

Also, Anthony, "Sexual choice"??? REALLY? That's what you think transgender people are? Just a "sexual choice"? You really have no fucking idea what you're talking about.

@Anthony
In Fact, I'll go as far as saying I don't see how a seven or eight year can even comprehend this situation.

They can't, b/c the culture doesn't let them. Talk to transexuals; many of them describe feeling like they were the wrong gender as young as seven or eight. Some of those seven or eight yr olds who you are so concerned about are probably transgendered themselves. How nice it would be to have someone explain what they are going through.

Jeez, it's so sad when California is more conservative than South Park, Colorado. ;) Yay Mr./Ms. Garrison!

No fair! I want a transgendered teacher...
Sorry I'm not talking about the actual problem here, it is sick that kids are getting transferred out of his class, I just think that it's cool.

Oops- I didn't see Anthony's comment until after I posted that last comment. I agree with everyone arguing with him(STRONGLY) but he is too far gone to convince.

Anthony-
Another point I have to make: it's EASIER to explain this to young children than to people in their teens and 20s(you don't have to mention sex) because they don't have as big of a role, male or female, when they're very young. Also, like many people have said, it's none of the parent's buisness.