Does a girl’s privacy matter? I know of one dad who thinks so. When his daughter’s school district notified parents that bathrooms would be opened to students of the opposite sex, based on their gender identity, this dad immediately got on the phone and he stayed on the line for 30 minutes until the superintendent eventually took his call.
A military veteran, this dad said he didn’t fight for our country overseas to come home and worry about his daughter’s safety while at school in America. If the superintendent wouldn’t reverse the decision, he warned he would bring 100 dads and stand in front of every bathroom in the district. The superintendent eventually relented and changed course.
Why doesn’t every dad in America think, and act, like this? Why doesn’t every dad think his daughter has a right to expect privacy while going to the bathroom or getting changed for gym? Why are so many parents willing to look the other way and say nothing at all?
Some parents are intimidated by our country’s disagreement over what “sex” means. That’s the question at the center of R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a case that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear this October. Even though the court case is about employment law and a dress code, it centers on the meaning of “sex.” Is “sex” an objective reality involving the genetics of X and Y chromosomes, or is it based on a person’s fluid identity and self-perception?
Biology isn’t bigotry. In fact, redefining “sex” to mean “gender identity” creates chaos, not only for employers, but also for girls in our schools and women throughout society. That’s why dozens of parents have joined me in submitting a friend-of-the-court brief, asking the justices to interpret the law — and the meaning of “sex” — as it was written and intended.
Thankfully, I do know some parents like the dad I mentioned above, parents ready to stand up and challenge the chaos. Back in 2016, about 50 families in the northwest suburbs of Chicago filed a lawsuit to against the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and our school district to restore privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms.
It started in 2015, when the Obama Administration threatened to withhold our high school district’s federal funding, $6 million meant for special needs and low-income students, unless a male student was granted full, unrestricted access to the girls’ locker rooms. Then we learned district administrators had already opened the bathrooms, without notifying parents.
We were bewildered and angry that our federal government would violate existing law, bully a local school board, take private spaces away from minor girls, and then threaten to withhold funding for other vulnerable populations. We felt betrayed by our school administrators for rewriting the rules and unraveling protections, especially for girls. So we formed a group and got to work.
We believe students who struggle with their gender identity and suffer from gender dysphoria have equal dignity and value to other kids. We definitely believe they should never be bullied or subjected to violence. We also believe they can be given an accommodation outside their assigned locker room/bathroom.
But maintaining sex-specific private spaces is necessary in our schools, and that’s one reason why the Supreme Court’s decision in Harris matters so much. Kids have a right to go into a private, intimate space knowing someone of the opposite sex is not allowed in there too. It’s especially vital for every girl or young woman who has been subjected to sexual harassment or violence, when even the presence of a boy undressing in her locker room can trigger anxiety and panic.
I’m grateful for the parents who are asking questions, the moms who are willing to speak up and demand privacy, the dads who are happy to defend their daughters. Everyone’s dignity matters. That’s why our organization, Students and Parents for Privacy, joined other organizations in an amicus brief last week asking the Supreme Court to respect the law and refuse to redefine or reduce our kids’ privacy.
Vicki Wilson is a mother of two from Palatine and spokeswoman for Students and Parents for Privacy.
