Supporting the Trans Community in our Schools

In Texas, state legislation passed a bill that bans transgender medical care for children. One thousand miles away, PHS is increasingly learning how to support and be educated about the trans community.

On campus, groups like affinity mentorship and educational assemblies aim to welcome and support the transgender community in Piedmont, although there is a lack of implementation of transgender support in educational programs.

“It’s important to treat people normal because being trans doesn’t make you anything different from anyone else. I mean, my life is the same as anyone else’s,” sophomore Carmen Gaylord said. “A trans person is still a person.”

Along with Gaylord, senior Seb Ford and junior Danny Allen identify as transgender. A transgender person is defined as someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. 

Ford and Allen are both a part of the Affinity Identity Mentorship program at PHS. They have been mentoring a young transgender student in elementary school. Both Ford and Allen have been role models for this young student, supporting and guiding their mentee on handling adversity as a young transgender person while building community.

“Seb is able to talk about his own experiences in a really articulate way. I think that’s really hard for a lot of teenagers to do. It is astounding how he’s able to talk about his own experiences and use that to help and inspire others,” sophomore Genevieve Hiller said.

A 2022 study conducted by the UCLA Williams Institute found that nearly one in five people who identify as transgender are ages 13-17. This number has doubled since 2018. Among U.S. adults, 0.5% (about 1.3 million adults) identify as transgender. Among youth ages 13 to 17 in the U.S., 1.4% (about 300,000 youth) identify as transgender.

“There has been so much negative news recently against the trans community, but we only make up a tiny percent of the population. There are so many important problems to focus on but we are focusing on the wrong thing. It makes me really frustrated and sad for all the people who are having to deal with it,” Allen said.

According to a study done by The Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ youth are over four times as likely to attempt suicide than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health found that more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth consider suicide.

“Being trans in and of itself is no fun. And it’s even less fun when everyone around you is telling you that it’s not normal,” Gaylord said.

New laws are being implemented restricting the trans community. According to a New York Times article published in April 2023, Republican lawmakers in ten states have passed laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for young people across the country in the past three months. The laws ban or significantly limit the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transition surgery for people under 18.

“I’m very grateful that we live in the bubble of Piedmont, and even California where we are almost immune to any of the stuff that happens outside of this kind of world. It’s really concerning,” Gaylord said.

Recently, assemblies put on by the Trans community have raised education and awareness. On April 7, 2023, PHS held a Diversity Assembly showcasing students’ stories and experiences about their identities. At the assembly, Ford spoke about transgender diversity. 

“I think a lot of the elementary schools are becoming more open to the idea about talking about gender and sexuality, but honestly not as much as they should be,” Ford said.

The Culture of Belonging Assembly was put on by the Affinity Mentorship Program. Holding over 200 audience members in the Alan Harvey Theater, the assembly consisted of various speakers, a Q&A panel discussing the culture of belonging, and a five-minute speech by Ford.

“In the Culture of Belonging Assembly, I talked about how instilling sexist ideas is just as harmful to trans people as being transphobic. Coming out wouldn’t be such a big deal if we treated people equally and not on the basis of gender,” Ford said.

On Oct. 7 of 2022, PUSD staff had a professional development in-service day during which they watched videos of Piedmont High School students sharing their personal stories and feelings about their identities, in their own words. In these videos, some students shared their experiences of being transgender.

“For someone who wants to support trans people, the first step you should take is knowing someone’s boundaries. Another step is when you mess up because it’s inevitable that people mess up, don’t laugh it off,” Gaylord said.

In order to better support students who are transgender, PUSD may look to adopt resources offered by organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). HRC’s manual entitled “Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools” is an innovative resource providing a prototype for a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment for trans youth. The manual touches on important subjects such as affirming gender identity, best policies for restroom access, and working with unsupportive home environments.

“So far as a community, we’re doing decent work, we are accepting. The goal is to be welcoming,” said Gaylord.