Guidelines for transgender students at Central

Nationwide, the battle over transgender people and bathrooms wages on. Sixteen states have considered a bill that would require transgender people to use the restroom or locker room that aligned with their biological sex, not their gender identity. While North Carolina has been the only state to actually pass this legislation, though they have since repealed it, the conversation continues. 

For whatever reason, in schools, this conversation can get especially heated. Since Nebraska has no law that says people must use the facilities that correspond with their sex at birth, transgender students are free to use the restrooms they identify with if they so choose. 

Luka Morris is one such student. Marked female at birth, the junior identifies as male and, in turn, uses the men’s restrooms at Central. Last summer, Morris underwent a medical procedure commonly known as top surgery, which gives people transitioning from female to male the appearance of a flat chest. He says this has boosted his confidence if using men’s facilities. 

“Last year, for a little bit I used the nurse’s bathroom,” Morris said, “[top surgery] helps. I think if I would have tried to use [the men’s restroom] freshman year I probably would have had an anxiety attack. I know Central does have a harassment policy in place so that if something did happen I could go to an administrator.”  

That harassment policy is the same for any harassment in OPS. It encompasses “any physical, verbal, graphic, electronic, or written material or behavior, related to a person’s disability, gender, race, color, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, or marital status which has the purpose of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive school environment.” Depending on the severity of the offence, a student could receive anything from an after-school suspension to expulsion.  

“The victim would have to report that,” Principal Ed Bennett said. “Some people don’t feel comfortable reporting, but if we don’t know about it, we can’t do anything about it.” Teachers are required to report harassment they see, but Bennett reminds students that just because it seems like a teacher saw something and will report it doesn’t mean they were focused on the event. It’s best to report harassment oneself.  

When dealing with minors, preferred names and pronouns can also be tricky. 

“I don’t care what they tell you they want to be called. It is not your job to stand as judge and jury. If a student says ‘call me’ whatever it is, as long as it’s not profane, as long as you know they’re being sincere about what they want to be called, that’s what you call them.” 

According to OPS records, Morris’s name is Luka, even though that’s not the name he was given at birth. He had his name legally changed to Luka Morris in August.  

“If you don’t have your name legally changed,” Morris said, “they cannot legally put it as the first thing to show up, but they can put a preferred name … I emailed all my teachers beforehand. Once I got my schedule I emailed them, and I explained everything about my name and pronouns.” 

Transgender athletes are another issue raised worldwide. The International Olympic Committee has made it harder for transgender athletes to compete. Transwomen hoping to compete in female events will need to reduce their testosterone levels even further to qualify than they had to in the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Nebraska Student Activities Association has a similar gender participation policy. For a transgender student to compete in the gendered sport they identify with, they need a letter approved by a parent about their gender identity, letters from peers confirming their identity, verification by the student’s doctor and records of medical procedures such as hormone therapy or sexual reassignment surgery.  

“[OPS] guidelines are different than the NSAA. And the NSAA said, in terms of locker room use, you need to go by what’s on your birth certificate.” 

At Central, transgender students have the option to use the locker room they identify with, so long as other students don’t have problems with it. Even if they come to a compromise of changing in a stall in the locker room, they have the right to be there. That means that there are students who use the locker room they identify with during gym classes, but, after school, they need to use the locker room that aligns with their birth certificate.  

“All I really want as a principal,” Bennett said, “is to have everybody have a good experience here. If somebody’s mean to you, let us know. We’ll tell the kid to knock it off and, hopefully reinforce that if we have to so that everybody who comes here – all they need to worry about is going to school, having friends, having a good time and making it through high school which is pretty dang hard.”